By Adetayo Omotoyosi Adeolu
Amid the economic hardship currently facing Nigerians, the federal government is considering a salary increase for individuals in political positions.
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission is planning to reassess the salaries of political office holders in Nigeria, citing that the present earnings are insufficient, impractical, and outdated given the increasing responsibilities and economic challenges.
During a press conference held in Abuja on Monday, Mohammed Shehu, the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, revealed that President Bola Tinubu currently has a monthly salary of N1.5 million. Meanwhile, ministers earn less than N1 million each month. These salary figures have not been adjusted since 2008.
Mohammed said, “You are paying the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria N1.5m a month, with a population of over 200 million people. Everybody believes that it is a joke.
“You cannot pay a minister less than N1m per month since 2008 and expect him to put in his best without necessarily being involved in some other things. You pay either a CBN governor or the DG ten times more than you pay the President. That is just not right. Or you pay him [the head of an agency] twenty times higher than the Attorney-General of the Federation. That is absolutely not right.
“We are strictly restricted to political office holders, governors, senators, legislators, ministers, DGs, and other people. “It’s about time that people like you and others should support the commission to come up with reasonable living salaries for ministers, DGs, and the President.
“In line with this constitutional responsibility and in response to the evolving socio-economic, political and fiscal realities of our nation, the Commission has resolved to initiate the process of reviewing the revenue allocation formula to reflect emerging socio-economic realities. “The situation has made it essential to re-evaluate the structure of fiscal federalism in order to foster economic growth in individual states, enabling them to become independent from the central government and ensuring equity, responsiveness, and sustainability,” he concluded.
