Addressing speculations about a potential salary review for government employees, the Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Muhammed Shehu, has refuted claims of exorbitant earnings by political office holders in Nigeria, asserting that some civil servants earn more than ministers and legislators.
There has been a prevailing perception among Nigerians regarding the supposedly exorbitant emoluments earned by political office holders in the country and the RMAFC boss there is need to correct these misconceptions.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, Shehu clarified: “I want to disabuse the minds of Nigerians. It is not true that people are getting jumbo salaries. The monthly salary of Mr. President is less than N1.5 million; that of a minister is not even up to one million naira.”
He added that salaries for politicians have not been reviewed since 2007 and employees in agencies such as CBN, NNPC, NCC, and ports authority receive substantial salaries compared to political office holders.
“I know of an average CBN worker who is not even a director, who earns more than a minister.
“People in NNPC, NCC, ports authority earn huge salaries. What is the salary of a governor? What is the salary of a legislator?” he queried.
Shehu further explained that what the public perceive as “jumbo salaries” for legislators are actually “operating costs” that cover the expenses of running their offices, including constituency offices, computers, logistics, and staff salaries.
“I know some people will say members of the National Assembly get up to N10 million or N11 million monthly.
“Those are not salaries, they are like operating costs of running their offices which in other societies the legislator does not have to see because there is a structure.
“Once you get elected, you make that structure from your constituency office to computers to logistics to the size of your constituency,” he said.
However, Shehu noted that the National Assembly Service Commission is responsible for managing these expenses but in reality, Nigerian legislators often handle these costs personally.
“Wherever you have constituency office, the workers you hire, It is the National Assembly Service commission that is supposed to take care of that.
“But the Nigerian system allows the legislator to be given a certain amount and then he deals with that and retires the receipts,” he said.
In June, an RMAFC official announced a proposed 114 percent salary increase for political office holders.
This proposal faced criticism from many Nigerians, especially as citizens were already grappling with rising prices of goods and services due to government policies like the removal of petrol subsidies.
However, Dele Alake, who served as the spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu at the time, refuted the claim, highlighting that the president had not given his approval.
Regarding the possibility of salary review for politicians, Shehu said: “We, as Nigerians, are not initiating discussions about reviewing salaries of political office holders at this moment due to the challenges the government is currently encountering.
“As a commission, we will perform our duties, but we will choose an appropriate time for this review. Once the conditions are suitable, we will present our findings to the stakeholders for their consideration and decision,” he explained.
