‘It’ll affect resources for capital projects’ — Oshiomhole cautions senators on creating more institutions

Adams Oshiomhole, the senator representing Edo north, says the creation of new institutions can affect the federal government’s resources available for capital projects.

Oshiomhole spoke on Tuesday when he contributed to a debate on a bill seeking to establish the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration.

The bill is sponsored by Suleiman Sadiq, the senator representing Kwara north.

The former governor of Edo said by creating new institutions, the recurrent expenditures of the federal government would keep increasing.

The senator said the reason for the bill could be taken care of by a relevant department in the federal ministry of education or its agencies.

“I think we have time to be careful in creating more and more institutions because the federal government’s recurrent expenditure is so huge that very little is available for capital projects,” he said.

“We are witnesses to the much-talked-about Orosanye report. The federal government is trying to shrink and merge institutions.

“I am not able to understand why the ministry of education cannot create a department to deal with all of those issues that this bill seeks to achieve.

“Senator Sadiq is my very good friend and brother. I hope he will understand that this is not about him. I accept the spirit of the motion, but it can be taken care of within a relevant department created if it doesn’t exist.

“There are so many institutions that have to do with education, so many of them.

“The universities are in dire need of fresh investments in their infrastructure. I think these are things that should engage our attention. How do we make our universities better equipped?”

However, the bill scaled the second reading when it was put to a voice vote by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.`