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A cross section of Nigerians have expressed their distrust for policies of the Yar’Adua administration fearing that the recent plan announced by government to cut the wages of political office holders will deepen the existing widespread corruption in the country.
Those who spoke in a public opinion poll by The
Abuja Inquirer in the capital city advised the Yar’Adua government to concentrate in the fight against corruption as there is more to be recovered from there than cutting the salary of political office holders.
Contrary to government views that the fight against corruption has
entered a new phase with the appointment of Farida Waziri, those who responded to questions posed by our correspondent revealed a lack of confidence in the government of Yar’Adua to fight corruption.
In the words of one of the respondents who simply gave his name as
Muyiwa "The matter is not only the cutting of the salary. Other things
have to be taken into consideration critically. This includes blocking
the loopholes that promote corruption. “ICPC and EFCC are not sincere. They have only been pursuing people I call small thieves while leavingthe big ones and that is the challenge."
According to a respondent who gave his name as Olabode, the decision to cut the salaries of public servants will only serve to aggravate the level of corruption in the country as many of those affected will simply devise other means of making up what they lost via corrupt practices.
Citing examples to buttress their point some of the respondents made
mention of EFCC's recent arrest of INEC officials who were accused of floating Civil Society Groups during the last election so that they
can collect the money disbursed to civil societies.
The effect they said was that credible organizations that could have
served the purpose were shortchanged.
A respondent Jumai Daruk based her own fears on the fact that the idea will not be implemented to the benefit of Nigerians while another suggested that the money accruing from the exercise should be paid to civil servants that are of the lower cadre.
"In theory it should work but in practice, I have my doubts. In
Nigeria our government is very good in writing brilliant policy papers
but they never follow in practice".
Reacting to the idea another respondent, Umaru Abu,
scored the President high saying that the money currently incurred
from payment of salaries is too high.
"For me, I read in one of the National Dailies sometime last week,
that almost 60 percent of last year's budget was used for payment
of salaries for political office holders, I do not see that as a nice
thing. If there is a payment, it makes a lot of sense because for one
reasonable amount of money will be saved for the government."
Despite this stand he also expressed fears about the success of the
exercise as a result of endemic corruption.
"But if I must tell you, these political office holders don't depend
on their salaries. There is a lot of corrupt practice. Given this
circumstances, I would rather suggest that if there is any way he can
take steps to see that the level of corruption is reduced. "
Recently the National Economic Council (NEC) endorsed a
salary cut for all political office holders. The proposal initiated by
the President, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, followed the announcement by the Finance Minister last week that the country's economy was in trouble.
.The president said Nigeria's situation has been worsened by the sharp drop in crude oil prices from nearly $150 per barrel in July last year to the current $41, given the country's budget benchmark of a price of $45 per barrel.
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