Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has charged the House of Representative members to cut down on their bloated allowances, which he described as the real demons behind the high cost of governance.

In a statement posted on his official X account on Thursday, Mr Abubakar dismissed the planned cut in the salaries of lawmakers as insignificant and “a drop in the ocean.”

“The sacrifice of members of the House of Representatives is commendable. But it is a drop in the ocean,” Mr Abubakar said. “The demons are in the allowances and not the salaries of lawmakers and government officials in general.”

Mr Abubakar lamented the high cost of governance and the waste of resources as a result of increasing ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) and the prioritisation of non-essential expenditures.

“Whatever happened to the much-trumpeted implementation of the Oronsaye Report?” Mr Abubakar asked, adding, “Recently, the ballooning of MDAs with the attendant cost implications has been observed. There’s too much wastage and prioritisation of non-essential expenditures. What is desirable is an across the board cut in expenses. We can no longer afford to borrow money to fund continued irresponsibility in government.”

Mr Abubakar’s remarks follow the Nigerian House of Representatives’ decision to halve its members’ salaries for six months, a move intended to support President Bola Tinubu’s administration in alleviating the severe economic difficulties faced by Nigerians as a result of the president’s stringent monetary policies.

Salaries and allowances for members of the Nigerian National Assembly have long remained shrouded in secrecy.

In 2018, former Senator Shehu Sani exposed that, in addition to a salary of N750,000, he and his fellow senators received N13.5 million in monthly running costs, which sparked widespread public outrage.

Since Mr Sani’s disclosure, calls for a review of lawmakers’ salaries and allowances have intensified, with increasing numbers of Nigerians demanding transparency and reform.