Public Officers’ Pay, Allowances: Matters Arising

Concerned citizens observe that issues on annual salaries and allowances for political office holders have been generating controversies since the country returned to democratic rule in 1999.
They recall that some negative comments about the cost of governance, especially among lawmakers, may have motivated the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to begin processes aimed at reviewing the salaries and allowances recently.
According to them, the remunerations for political office holders have also generated protests, citing the recent one by civil society organisations that demanded 60 per cent cut in salaries and allowances for political office holders.
Although Chairman of RMAFC, Chief Elias Mbam,says that Nigerian lawmakers receive N506, 600 each year as wardrobe allowance, critics solicit further explanations on salaries and other allowances.
They argue that allowances such as house maintenance, utilities and entertainment, among other benefits for the 469 lawmakers in the National Assembly, ought to be made public.
But Mbam explains that wardrobe allowance is made for public officers to assist them to dress properly.
“It is 25 per cent of the basic salary for senators and if you apply that, every senator will receive N506, 600 per annum.
“House of Representatives members receive less but I don’t have the figure. It is less than that; certainly there are other allowances.
“There is utility allowance, there is housing, there is entertainment allowance and at the end of the service, there is severance allowance,” he says.
Mbam, nonetheless, says that the commission would soon carry out a downward review of the allowances of lawmakers.
This explanation notwithstanding, the National Chairman, Progressive Peoples Alliance, Mr Peter Ameh,insists that the salaries of the legislators should be measured by what the civil servant earns.
“This is because a Nigerian worker earns N18, 000 as minimum wage, sends his children to school and pays house rent without any proper housing mortgage scheme.
“There is no justification for the jumbo allowance proposed by the leadership of the National Assembly for its members.
“Legislators have about 182 days for sittings in a year, they should take up other ventures to complement their salaries and stop demanding for fat allowances,” he argues.
He notes that there should be an arrangement to make the National Assembly and other elective positions less attractive to maintain modesty in salaries and allowances.
Sharing similar sentiments, the Founder of Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare,believes that the huge wardrobe allowance for National Assembly members is unnecessary.
“We have states that cannot pay salaries and the lawmakers in the National Assembly want to live fat at the expense of the masses. I believe time will sort everything out,” he said.
In his opinion, the Executive Director, Conscience Nigeria, Mr Tosin Adeyanju,suggested 60 per cent downward review in the salaries and allowances of National Assembly members.
He also suggested that lawmaking should be a part-time work to reduce the present cost of running the two chambers.
“The time has come for National Assembly members to declare their pay,” he said.
Adeyanju said a comparative analysis of salaries and allowances of lawmakers in five developed country showed that the Nigerian legislators earned the highest salaries and allowances.
He said that based on the national minimum wage of N18, 000, it will take an average Nigerian worker many years to earn the annual salary of a senator.
Also, the former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaokurecently observed that Nigerian lawmakers were the highest paid lawmakers in the world.
“Nigerian lawmakers earn more than their counterparts in the United States, China, Britain, Japan and Canada, among others,” he noted.
Sharing Anyaoku’s viewpoint, analysts, insist that the exact take-home pay of the National Assembly members is not known.
They observe further that lawmakers’ allowances on accommodation, vehicles and furniture, among others, are about nine times their basic salary.
The organised labour, therefore, insists that the National Assembly should cut its N120 billion annual budget drastically to reflect the economic realities in the country.
A faction of Nigeria Labour Congress led by Joe Ajaero, noted that the reported reduction of the National Assembly’s budget from N150 billion to N120 billion “is too token”.
The faction’s Deputy President Issa Aremu said, “should members of the House of Representatives earn as much as N120 billion in a year, which is more than the 2015 budget of Ekiti State –N80.774 billion — with the population of 2,384,212 people?
“In fact, the respective budgets of Osun, Benue and Ekiti State are half of the budget of the National Assembly. How equitable is that?
“No country can do well with this wide gap in resource allocation between the governed and some elected government officials,” he said.
He, therefore, suggested that the National Assembly’s budget should be reversed to 2003 budget of N50 billion.
“The 8th National Assembly must make a difference; it should be accountable to Nigerian people just as many executives have done.
Concerned citizens, therefore, plead with President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently address the contentious issues of jumbo pay for all public office holders, including lawmakers, recalling that the issue formed part of the agenda at the National Conference.

Ukoh and Sharang write for NAN