Senate Chief Whip, Professor Olusola Adeyeye, believes members of the National Assembly and all government officials need to cut down on luxury in order to move Nigeria forward.
Prof. Adeyeye was on Channels Television’s Politics Today to discuss the presidential media chat held on Wednesday, December 30, 2015 and the national issues that were tackled by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Professor Adeyeye was full of praise for President Buhari’s honesty during the media chat, particularly in admitting that the government was not sure about the location and condition of the abducted Chibok girls.
“He spoke the truth. He did not try to over-sweeten the story as politicians would do, he was optimistic about the future but he also clearly made the nation know that there were problems ahead,” he said.
The APC Senator threw his weight behind the President’s war on terrorism and corruption, noting that these were problems he inherited and should be commended for fighting.
He stated that “terrorism is not an issue that is solved overnight” and that the circumstances in which the war had been sabotaged in the past have made it more difficult.
Prof. Adeyeye also recalled how he had been an advocate of transparency and prudence in government during the 7th Assembly but one of the issues that came up during the presidential media chat was the proposed allocation of funds for the purchase of official cars for members of the National Assembly in the 8th Assembly which he also belongs.
President Buhari had frowned at the purported allocation of over 40billion naira for this purpose and the Senator agreed with the President.
“If I was president of Nigeria today, honestly to the extent possible I will end official cars for everybody – from President to the level 8 officer.
“We once had a republic where our head of state rode a Peugeot 504 and gave us what he called ‘Operation Low Profile’. We must go back to that.
“A situation whereby we go through the streets of Abuja and everybody is riding SUVs, everybody is focusing on the senators because 109 of them are the ones who were elected. Ask yourself, ‘what type of cars are the ministers riding? What type of cars are the judges riding? What type of cars are the DGs of parastatals riding?’
“My official car right now as the Chief Whip of the Senate is not as good as what the DGs of many parastatals are riding.
“What we need to do is to say ‘regardless of your position, let’s go back to Operation Low Profile’,” the Senator said.
He insisted that the financial situation in Nigeria requires all citizens in government to make sacrifices.
“If we are going to correct this mess, we must correct it in every ministry, in every government department and across board.
Adeyeye, who represents Osun State in the Senate, commended President Buhari for his handling of other national issues during the presidential media chat.