Professor Pat Utomi, a political economist, has pledged that if elected president of Nigeria, he will significantly reduce the cost of governance to ease the burden on citizens.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Utomi highlighted what he described as the excessive cost of running government at the expense of ordinary Nigerians.
“It did not make sense to run a government at the expense of the masses who are facing hardship,” he said.
He outlined his plans to implement fiscal discipline, promote industrial growth, and ensure responsible use of government revenue. “I will dramatically slice the cost of governing in Nigeria; it is way too high. I would use industry policy to stimulate production. We’re not doing enough to stimulate production,” Utomi stated.
On taxation and revenue, he emphasised that tax reforms are necessary but must not serve merely as a source of discretionary spending. “I’m not going to remove tax reforms. They are important. We need them, but I’m going to make sure that they are not revenues for people to spend. We need to look at constitutional reforms that limit how you spend,” he explained.
Utomi further called for balanced budgets and constitutional checks on public expenditure, stating that such reforms are essential to ensure that government resources benefit the populace rather than being consumed by bureaucratic inefficiencies.
