Muhammed Shehu, the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), has clarified that political officeholders do not earn extravagant salaries as previously suggested.
Gatekeepers News reports that in an interview with NAN, Shehu provided specific figures, stating that President Bola Tinubu’s monthly salary is less than N1.5 million, while ministers earn less than N1 million.
Shehu noted that the proposed 114 per cent salary increase for politicians, judicial, and public officeholders has been postponed due to economic challenges.
“I want to disabuse the minds of Nigerians. It is not true that people are getting jumbo salaries,” he said.
“The monthly salary of Mr President is less than N1.5 million; that of a minister is not even up to one million naira.
“I know of an average CBN worker that 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?”
The RMAFC chairman said what is considered outrageous earnings are statutory office running costs, which should ordinarily be managed centrally by the National Assembly Service Commission (NASS).
“I know some people will say members of the National Assembly get up to 10 million or 11 million monthly,” he said.
“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.
“Wherever you have constituency office, the workers you hire, it is the National Assembly Service commission that is supposed to take care of that.”
He said the Nigerian system allows a legislator to be allocated a certain amount, which is spent and the receipts retired.
