Account for security votes youre collecting, TUC tells governors

By Frank Ikpefan, AbujaThe Trade Union Congress (TUC) has asked the 36 state governors to account for the usage of security votes they have been collecting all these years amidst rising insecurity in various states.TUC urged the governors to stop making security matters shrouded in secrecy.The Congress also asked the Federal Government to begin immediate process of cutting down the cost of governance either by scrapping the Senate or House of Representatives rather than paying lip service to the matter.National Treasurer of TUC, who doubles as President-General of the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), Mohammad Yunusa, made the call during an interview with reporters in Abuja.Yunusa, while reacting to a question on what labour unions are doing to help the government in fighting insecurity said: Let us look at the narratives before now. The government gives security votes to all state governors before now as chief security officers of their states, and before now, that money is not usually accounted for.Read Also:Niger Delta groups, lawyers kick against N9b monthly security votes paid governorsIf you ask how they are using it, they will tell you that security matters are shrouded in secrecy, that you dont need to see what we are doing with it.If youre the chief security officer of a state, and youre being given security votes, I dont know how much that is given to you, I dont know what youre doing with it, how can I help you to secure the state' I dont know what your programmes are.We are now changing the narratives to say no, if the security is the collective responsibility of every citizen, let the state governors share their plans with the citizens, so that we can key into that plan and secure our state.The labour leader stressed that the only way to reduce insecurity is by fighting poverty in the land, saying investments would keep eluding the country if insecurity challenges are not properly addressed.He added: We have been saying it that government must cut down the cost of governance. Nobody can say, even the media, how much is spent by the Nigerian government on the bicameral legislature for example. You have the Senate, you have the House of Representatives, and if you look at their functions, they are duplicated.So, a government that is serious about cutting down cost, will now say, okay, lets have only one legislature. Lets have the unicameral legislature, then scrap House of Representatives for example. Then, whatever youre pouring to that place, you can save it and divert it to do other things.
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