Doyin Okupe has given the most unexpected advice to state governors who cannot afford to pay workers’ salaries.

The former Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan implored the governors to cut down their workforce instead of begging for bailout funds from the Federal Government to pay their workers.

In a statement personally signed by Okupe, he said it was evident that state governors would not be able to cater to the financial needs of their states.

While declaring that state governments have bloated civil service, Okupe fingered the governors as the reason why his former boss, Jonathan could not save money for rainy days from the Excess Crude Account while in government.

He stated that the governors must prune their workforce and also advised that 20-30 per cent of the workforce should be sacked and paid 3 years in lieu of the sack notice.

“Firstly, virtually all state governments in the country have over bloated civil service. At some point between 2008 and 2009, Ogun state received N2b monthly from the federation account and paid out N1.8b as staff salaries, wages and overhead costs.”

“The total staff strength was about 50,000 while the population of the state was about 5,000,000. An obvious socio economic absurdity and incongruity therefore existed where 10 per cent of the population was consuming 90per cent of the wealth of the state.”

“We do not need a soothsayer or an economic guru to foretell that this is unsustainable. In many States the percentage of the resources of the state that is consumed by the civil service ranges between 70 per cent to 80 per cent by not more than 10 per cent of its population.”

“A basic economic dictum says ‘if expenditure cannot be controlled, then internal demands must be curtailed’. Without doubt therefore, all state governments must immediately start the process of downsizing their workforce with reasonable cushions for those who will be affected.”

Adebayo Emuleomo