Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), told viewers of Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday that, if he wins the 2027 election, his administration will neither create an official Office of the First Lady nor allocate “security votes” to state governors.
Sowore argued that the Nigerian Constitution does not provide for a First‑Lady position and that maintaining such an office would waste public funds that could be directed toward development projects. He emphasized that the absence of a formal office would not silence women in his government, saying, “Women will be heard, but I don’t believe that you need a first lady who is holding an unconstitutional position and just wasting money that is meant for progress and projects.”
The candidate framed the decision as a deliberate policy aimed at reducing the cost of governance, estimating that his proposed reforms could save about N4 trillion. He said the savings would come from cutting what he described as unnecessary expenditures and tackling corruption.
Regarding security votes, Sowore pledged to end the practice of granting discretionary funds to governors for security‑related and emergency spending. He suggested that constitutional amendments would be needed to redirect those monies toward state wage bills, stating, “We will stop security votes to governors… the money that goes to the governor as a person can take care of the wage bill of the state.”
Security votes have long been a contentious feature of Nigeria’s fiscal system, providing governors with flexible funding that critics say lacks transparency and accountability. Sowore’s proposal seeks to reallocate those resources to more accountable uses, such as paying public‑sector salaries.
Overall, Sowore’s platform positions fiscal restraint and institutional restructuring as central themes of his 2027 campaign, promising to trim government spending while maintaining inclusive representation for women in his administration.
<small>Source: The Sun Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
