The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, (RMAFC) has disclosed that it has concluded arrangements to start the process of the review of the remuneration of political and public office holders as well as judicial officers in the country.
A statement from RMAFC quoted the Commission’s chairman, Mohammed Bello Shehu, as stating this during a courtesy visit to the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, in his office in Abuja.
However, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and some experts said RMAFC’s statement was provocative considering that the N30, 000 minimum wage for civil servants is nothing compared to the humongous amount politicians are receiving as salaries and allowances.
Those to benefit from the largesse include the president, vice president, governors and their deputies, legislators and other political office holders.
The NLC said it is the civil servants at the national, State and local government areas that deserve salary review in line with prevailing economic challenges. It noted that the functions of RMAFC in paragraph 32(D) of part 1 to the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, empowers the Commission to determine the remuneration appropriate to political, public and judicial office holders in the country. He said the last time the review was carried out was in 2008, which makes it long overdue for a review.
The statement quoted the chairman of the NGF, Tambuwal, as commending the readiness of the RMAFC to commence the process for the review of the remuneration exercise. The governor, while congratulating Shehu on his new appointment as RMAFC chairman, said that the salaries of judges in the country were one of the lowest in public service.
At present, salaries of some political and public office holders are as follows: The President N14,058,820 per annum; the Vice-President N12,126,290 per annum.; Ministers, the SGF, Head of Service, Chairmen of Constitutional bodies N7,801,640:00 p.a.; Ministers of State and members of Constitutional bodies N7,536,683 per annum.; Special Advisers, including speech writers N7,091,493 per annum.
However, this only represents the annual basic salaries these officeholders take. It did not include their entitled allowances like accommodation, furniture, duty tour allowance, estacode, medicals, severance gratuity, leave and motor vehicle loan and what goes to their domestic staff among others.
Responding to the planned increment for select government officials, the organised labour yesterday warned the RMFRC against instigating a crisis that would be difficult to manage, saying political officeholders are currently earning higher than every class of workers in the country.
