Buhari, NASS members don’t deserve severance pay, say analysts

Some analysts have said former President Muhammadu Buhari and members of the ninth National Assembly do not deserve a severance package given their performance in office.

A political analyst, Jackson Omenazu, accused the former president and outgoing federal legislators of leaving the country's economy in a worse state than they met it.

The PUNCH earlier reported that the severance package for Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, state governors and other political appointees who left office in 2023 might cost the country about N63.45bn.

It was also reported that senators and members of the House of Representatives will be sharing a total of N30.2bn as severance allowance as they wind down.

In an interview with Saturday PUNCH, Omenazu said, “The kind of democracy our political actors have decided to practice, you see that these people lack patriotism. They lack the willingness to make Nigeria work. How can they collect that much, with the current economy where we are borrowing to pay salaries?

“Have they thought about other Nigerians who cannot afford one square meal a day? With the level of insecurity, what is the legacy they are leaving behind? The legacy of hunger, insecurity and unemployment?”

Also, the Vice President, Nigeria Political Science Association, Prof Makodi Bierrenu-Nnabugwu, said such an act by the outgoing leaders would further impoverish the country.

He added, “The implication is that the economy will keep going down. I'm not sure our economy can sustain that over a long period of time. Such things generate disorder, disloyalty and low morale as well as disorganise the economy.”

When asked if there should be a law to stop government officials from awarding themselves such packages, he said, “Who will make the laws, is it you and I or the people who are awarding those things to themselves? We have found ourselves in a difficult position.”