A renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, has said that the proposed new constitution must review downward the huge salaries and other emoluments being paid to political office-holders at the expense of the majority of Nigerians.


Afe also advocated a drastic reduction in the number of political offices already in existence in the country.


He said the two issues must be addressed by those who want to review the 1999 constitution otherwise, most Nigerians would continue to wallow in abject poverty.


The legal luminary, who said this in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday while delivering a speech at the public presentation of the autobiography of a late politician, Chief Joseph Osuntokun, said that presidential system of government being practised in Nigeria was a disservice to the nation.


He also advocated true federalism, saying this would ensure the rapid development of each state because there would be competition among the components of the federation.


According to him, “Everybody now wants to be a politician because politics has become the easiest way of becoming a millionaire over-night. This is because our constitution has made political offices so lucrative.


“The constitution should be designed in such a way that each constituent unit should be empowered to exploit its resources and then pay certain agreed percentage to the central government while using the rest to develop its people and infrastructure at its own pace.


“The constitution should also ensure that local government’s political positions and those of the Houses of Assembly (state or national) are not made places for payment of huge salaries. The number of assembly men should also be reduced drastically.


“Most political offices should be part-time while local government councillors should earn sitting allowances and no more, so that people who have other viable means of livelihood can go there purely to render services to the community.”


The legal icon said that in true federalism, the central government would only be concerned with currency, maritime matters, defence, customs and aviation and other issues, which bound the country together.


He decried the current situation in the country, whereby the Federal Government took over 50 per cent of the revenue accruing to the nation.


He said that the sharing formula was not designed to ensure development because 36 states and 764 local government councils in the country were left with less than 50 per cent of the revenue to share.


He stated that the current federalism should better be described as unitary system in disguise because the meagre revenue left to be shared by states and local government councils could hardly pay civil servants’ salaries, leaving little or nothing for physical development.

http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201006025164315

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He benefited immensely during OBJ's Era. He failed to raise this then. He was OBJ's lawyer when he was in power

supereagle:

He benefited immensely during OBJ's Era. He failed to raise this then. He was OBJ's lawyer when he was in power

This still does not diminish the fact of the matter.

There, simply, is no justification for what political office holders are paying themselves today even as the nation has nothing to show for it.

He should have started the campaign then , If OBJ is still in power he will keep quiet .

supereagle:

He should have started the campaign then , If OBJ is still in power he will keep quiet .

Afe Babalola has spoken the truth. Even if he was OBJ's lawyer, that was nothing more than a client-lawyer relationship.

Politics should be about service but these people all go there to enrich themselves. I agree 100% with every point of his. David Mark should earn not more than N2million per month all-in. Afterall they dont pay for where they live, what they eat, who drives them, where they fly, where they lodge etc