The appointment of over 30 aides by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has raised posers on whether the federal government is listening to Nigerians on the need to cut down the cost of governance in the country.

The Speaker announced on Monday that he has appointed 33 aides to assist him in discharging his duties as the country’s number three citizens.

According to him, the fresh appointments is to ensure effective delivery of his legislative agenda for the 10th House of Representatives.

The appointees include , Jamil Ahmed Muhammed as Deputy Chief of Staff – Administration; Dr. Dunkwu Chamberlain as Deputy Chief of Staff – Legislative; Hon. Ahmed Dayyabu Safana as Special Adviser – Special Duties; Dr. Hamisu Kubau ad Special Adviser – Political Matters; Barrister Samuel Ajayi – Special Adviser – Legal Matters, amongst others.

For those watching the federal government, the appointments in the lower legislative house is a pointer of what to expect from the Senate and the Presidency in the next few day
This development, well meaning Nigerians say is contrary to the new auserity mantra being espoused by the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The administration has recently announced a slew of austerity measures for Nigerians, including the removal of fuel subsidy, which not a few insist have made life difficult for many Nigerians.

The government has also suggested the removal of subsidy on electricity, which is expeced to take effect next month, aside reducing funding for Education, as part of the ongoing cost saving policies to save the country’s economy from collapsing.

While some Nigerians, have applauded the president for ending the subsidy regime for instance , as the right decision at this moment, so that funds could be saved to provide essential social services in the country, not a few have also urged the government to cut down the cost of running government in the country, in the area of paying huege salaries and allowances to top government officials and aides.
Specifically, Nigerians expect top government officials in the country to cut down the number of aides, reduce allowance, and other cost of running their offices, which has obviously become a huge burden on the nation’s lean resources, to reciprocate the sacrifice other Nigerians are paying at the moment due to the removal of fuel and other subsidiaries, which according to the federal government have become unaffordable due to the shortfall in revenue acrueing to the three tiers of government.

The decision by the Speaker to appoint over 30 aides to work with him, is definitely not a welcome development for many Nigerians, who are already paying a steep price due to the economic situations in the country, and are expecting the federal government to take the lead in plugging waste in governance so that enough resources could be saved to make the country better.

“We expect the federal government to show that it’s serious on its quest to reduce the cost of running the government. The Speaker has not shown good example in this area, perhaps, he’s too distant from many Nigerians to know what we are going through at the moment, ” Kate Igalo, a trader in Lagos said.
She said “President Tinubu need to call all these people to order, except they want to face the anger of Nigerians. Things are to hard for us.”

Recall that the federal government recently denied approving a new salary scale for elected officials in the country, following outbursts from many Nigerians who kicked against such.

Meanwhile,  some Nigerians have defended the Speaker, saying his decision is in line with tradition in the National Assembly to appoint people across the  counrty  to assist him in his duty. He will still appoint more, his supporters say.