The proposal to increase the salaries of political office holders by the federal government has gotten former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi talking.
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) earlier in the week dropped hint of plan to jack up salaries of political office holders citing alleged disparities between the pay of politicians in authorities and certain public officers.
“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.
“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,” RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Shehu said at a press conference in Abuja on Monday.
Subsequently, the proposal didn’t find traction with the Nigeria Labour Congress.
One line of the workers’ group’s criticism is that political office holders are already overpaid considering the perks of offices, some in fat allowances that enlarge their take-home.
Having his say on the matter via a tweet he posted on his X handle, Obi hit out at the proposal, saying it is a misplaced priority and an injustice to underpaid Nigerian workers.
“The proposed over 100% salary increase for political office holders is totally unjustifiable considering the economic realities facing our country,” the former Anambra governor said.
Before he added, “Such thinking in the face of faster-eroding living standards of the people not only portrays the insensitivity of leaders but also exposes their greed.
“The RMAFC’s reckless haste in prioritising the greed of politicians over the desperate needs of the masses is not only provocative but scandalous.
“It’s a shameless grab for more at the expense of Nigeria’s struggling majority!
“We believe that political office is a service to the nation, and not a means to accumulate wealth.
“It is very disturbing that the RMAFC is prioritising the welfare of political office holders over that of security personnel, particularly police officers who are grossly underpaid and overworked.
“We urge the government to redirect its focus towards improving the living conditions of public workers, who are the backbone of our country.
“We call on the RMAFC to prioritise the welfare of Nigerians, particularly those in the public service, who have been neglected for far too long.”
