ADO EKITI, Nigeria – Chief Afe Babalola, the Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, ABUAD, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has asserted that members of the National Assembly should be entitled only to sitting allowances rather than salaries.
Babalola made these remarks on Friday, June 9, 2023, during the 63rd annual general meeting of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, held at ABUAD.
The meeting was themed ‘Promoting Public-Private Partnership for National Development.’
The renowned lawyer urged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to undertake a comprehensive restructuring through constitutional amendment to rectify significant political and social imbalances present in the Nigerian system.
Babalola criticized the enormous allowances given to former presidents, vice-presidents, governors, deputies, federal and state lawmakers, and other political appointees, calling for a halt to these practices.
He argued, “Beginning from the 10th National Assembly, federal and state lawmakers should receive only sitting allowances and not salaries. What is being paid to political officeholders as severance packages while leaving office is outrageous and deplorable. It has to stop. All such perks should cease if the country is to make progress.”
Additionally, Babalola advised that officeholders should be prohibited from owning foreign accounts.
He also made an appeal to the Federal Government to prioritize the security of lives and property in order to attract global investors to the country.
In a similar vein, the Governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji, urged all levels of government to embrace Public-Private Partnership initiatives, describing them as the most effective catalyst for economic development and prosperity.
