Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has saounded a warning that there would be no sacred cow in applying rules as the Muhammadu Buhari government moves to bring change to the ways Nigerians do things.
“I find that everybody will like the rules to be applied so long as it will not apply to himself. We can’t apply the rules except we apply the rules to all of us; there should be no sacred cows.”
The Vice President spoke at Day Two of the on-going 21st National Economic Summit in Abuja on the topic ‘’Reforming Public Institutions to Ensure Competitiveness And Accountability,” insisted that the business of bringing about the much desired changes in the country is a collective responsibility of everyone.
He noted that the mentality of people is that the responsibility for effecting change is the business of someone else, saying: “I think we must be one in deciding in this country that we want a change.
“if we pick up somebody here and want to try him, I know how many calls I will get from people in this room. People will bring up all kinds of excuses, including those of ethnic affiliations.
“I have had the experience in public service and don’t mind being the tough guy. I have sacked people that needed to be sacked. So there are no sacred cows, the rules will be applied anyway.”
Professor Osinbajo said that it is possible to achieve the reform of the nation’s public institutions against any known cynicisms or challenges, adding: “I think that an important message which we have taken from this discussion is that it is entirely possible to reform our public institutions, to turn our country around.
Professor Osinbajo charged the elites, including the participants, in the country to play a more significant role in attaining such a national objective, especially in upholding existing rules and regulations.
The Vice President noted that the reform of public institutions is critical for efficient and transparent use of public resources as well as sustainable delivery of public goods at national and sub-national levels.
He said that the government is embarking on the reform of public institutions with the fundamental objective to enhance their capacity and capability effectively and efficiently in response to the needs and demands of the citizens.
According to him, the key element of the institutional reform agenda is transparency and accountability.
“The whole idea is participatory governance, checks and balances which invariably will ensure policies and outputs of public institutions respond to the needs and wants of citizens.”
The specific reform agenda currently being implemented by the Federal Government, according to the Vice President, were focussed on achieving fiscal discipline, revenue diversification and efficient collection of government revenue.
Some of the on-going specific initiatives outlined by Professor Osinbajo include the Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), adoption of zero-based budgeting, bottom-up economic planning model, the Anti-Corruption Committee and capacity building for public servants. [myad]
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