A review of emoluments of lawmakers and other political office holders in the country is underway as the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission has put machinery in motion to that effect.
The RMAFC Chairman, Mr. Elias Mbam, confirmed this to SUNDAY PUNCH in an interview in Abuja, just as he disclosed that the agency would not implement the slash in the emolument of political office-holders proposal, which the late President Umaru Yar’Adua had tabled.
The April general elections had enthroned a new set of political leadership from the president, governors to lawmakers at national and state levels.
However, Mbam explained that the adjustment could be either upwards or downwards; but going by past experience, it is most probable that the review would be upwards.
He said the review would involve gathering data as well as in-depth analysis.
He added that the downward review proposed by the late Yar’Adua, which was kept in the cooler, had been overtaken by time and thus, the need to begin a fresh work on the emoluments of political office-holders.
The RMAFC boss said, “The review can be upwards and it can be downwards. I cannot say for now which direction it will take. Adjustment in emoluments does not just happen by a wave of the hand. Current realities must be determined and taken into consideration.”
The earnings of political office-holders in the country have been shrouded in secrecy and a subject of controversy in recent times, especially that of National Assembly lawmakers.
Currently, immediate speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, and his deputy, Mr. Bayero Nafada, are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for the illegal hike in the allowances of Reps from N28m to N42m per quarter with about N40bn loan taken from banks.
The PUNCH had reported that each senator earns N15.18m in salaries and allowances monthly, just as each member of the House of Representatives takes home N10.59m a month.
The amount includes each senator’s N45m quarterly allowance, which amounts to N180m annually, and the official N18.54m that goes into their individual accounts annually as salaries and other emoluments.
On the other hand, every member of the House of Representatives takes home about N127.18m annually (or N10.59m per month).
The amount includes N28m quarterly allowance for each member, which translates into N112m annually for the four quarters of the year.
Mbam had told our correspondents that it was only the Clerk of the National Assembly that knew the amount received by lawmakers besides the official entitlements approved by the RMAFC.
But reacting to the proposed review, a former Kaduna State governor, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, said Nigerians should stand up to protect the dignity of the human person by resisting the jumbo pay being planned for political office-holders.
He said the review by the RMAFC was insensitive to the feelings of the citizenry.
According to him, an upward review of the emoluments of political office holders at a time most states of the federation can not pay the minimum wage is most insensitive.
The Congress for Progressive Change said it was not the right time to review upwards the emoluments of legislators and other political appointees.
The party noted that at a time many states could not pay the minimum wage and Nigerians had been further impoverished by the absence of basic necessities such as cooking gas, to talk about the review of emoluments for politicians was most insensitive.
Its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, said the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Sanusi Lamido, was right when he said 25 per cent of Federal Government’s overhead went to the National Assembly, a group that was not up to 500 people.
Also, Gen. Ishola Williams (retd) of the Transparency International, said the take home pay and allowances of the members of the National Assembly had to be published before the matter of review could come up.
“No public servant must earn more than 200 times the minimum wage, including the president at the federal level, in this case there has to be a downward review,” he said.
He said the provisions for the RMAFC should therefore be deleted from the Constitution.
“The resources to be mobilised are in the local governments and the states whose citizens should have a direct say and direct benefits from the resources,” Williams said.
He said that RMAFC could not go about allocating what it did not have.
“The Federal Government has no resources of its own. It can establish a Wages Council that fixes emoluments for all public officials including civil servants, and others in public positions. The states have not got equal resources, therefore, the Commission cannot sit in Abuja and fix the remunerations of governors, commissioners, lawmakers, chairmen and councillors of local governments. It is not done in a federal system. The states and the LGs must sew the dress according to the material they have,” Williams added.
He said although the states had never been able to pay minimum wages, governors always found money to pay political appointees in their states as fixed by the Commission.
“All governors must discontinue with the figures for salaries and allowances fixed by the commission. Do a downward review and money saved can be used to pay the minimum wage,” he said.
Officially, a House of Representatives member is supposed to go home every year with N15, 186,875.38. This translates into N1,265,572.95 per month.
A senator, on the other hand, goes home with N18,541,560 per annum, translating into N1,545,130 per month.
If the salary cut for political office-holders recommended by RMAFC in 2009 had been implemented, the emolument of a member of the House of Representatives would have been slashed to N10,273,474 per annum or N856,122.87 per month, while that of a senator would have been slashed to N12,209,060 per annum or N1,017,421. 67.
Yar’Adua on February 10, 2009, in the wake of the global financial meltdown in 2008 that reduced the country’s earnings, directed RMAFC to work out a reduction in the salaries of the political office-holders as well as those of judges.
However, RMAFC’s proposal died in the National Assembly amid opposition from a broad spectrum of public officers.
In the recommendation, RMAFC explained, “In the light of the provisions of Sections 84(3) and 124(3) of the 1999 Constitution, that ‘the remuneration and salaries payable to the holders of the said offices and their conditions of service, other than allowances, shall not be altered to their disadvantage after their appointment’, the need to adhere to the rule of law and avoid the violation of the provisions of the Constitution, basic salaries for all political, public and judicial office-holders were retained as contained in the Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc) (Amendment) Act 2008.”
Subsequently, the basic salary of the president was left at N3,514,705 and that of the vice-president at N3,031,572.50.
The basic salary of the ministers, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Head of Service and chairmen of federal bodies was retained at N2,026,400.
The earnings of legislators and other office-holders had been controversial especially in recent times.
The worries of Nigerians, however, had not been on the official earnings as legislators were accused of appropriating huge sums as constituency project funds on quarterly basis.
It is alleged that these sums of money end up in the pockets of legislators as the constituency projects are hardly executed.
The squabble for financial benefits had frequently resulted in brawls in the National Assembly with a recent one leading to the suspension of 11 members of the House of Representatives.
A source at RMAFC told one of our correspondents that any earning by the legislators outside what is approved by the commission and ratified by an Act of Parliament was illegal.
The source, however, added that the commission was neither in the position to monitor such illegal earnings that members of the National Assembly could appropriate to themselves nor could it sanction them for such illegal earnings.
Senators are also entitled to severance package of N6, 079,200 upon successful completion of term; duty tour allowance of N23, 000 per night when they travel within the country and estacode of $800 per night when they travel out of the country. Should they desire, they are entitled to car loan of N8,105,600 each of which is refundable.
House of Representatives members are also entitled to a severance package of N5,955,637.50 upon successful completion of tenure; vehicle loan of N7,940,850; N21,000 duty tour per night when they travel within the country and $550 estacode per night when they travel outside the country.
From the remuneration currently in force, the President of the Senate earns N8,943,273 per annum or N745,272.75 per month. If the salary cut had been implemented, the President of the Senate’s earnings would have been reduced to N5,837,969 per annum or N486,497.49 per month.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives’ official earnings, on the other hand, amounts to N5,201,931 per annum or N433,494.25 per month.
If the Yar’Adua pay cut had been implemented, his pay would have been N4,582,653 per annum or N381,887 per month.
However, a House of Reps journal “The Green Chamber” which had Bankole as its Editor-in-Chief and immediate past spokesman of the House, Mr. Eseme Eyiboh, as the Executive Editor, contains what the lawmakers push to the public as their take-home.
Details of it are as follows: Basic Salary, N106,434.38; Vehicle Maintenance, N124,075.78; Entertainment, N49,630.31; Utility, N49,630.31; Domestic Staff, N124,075.78; Constituency, N165,434.38; Newspaper, N24,815.16; Recess, N16,543.60; Wardrobe, N41,358.60; and Personal Assistant, N41,358.60.
The seemingly lower emoluments of the President of the Senate and the Speaker compared to other legislators are explained by the fact that both officers are entitled to full provision of some items that had been monetised for other members of the parliament.
These comprise vehicles, fuelling and maintenance, personal assistants, housing and housing maintenance. Others are domestic staff, entertainment, utilities for wardrobe and newspapers and periodicals.
RMFAC had explained that it was necessary to raise the emoluments of public officers in the country in 2007 in order to reduce the high incidence of corruption. However, it does not appear that the review achieved the purpose.
Source: Sunday Punch
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Jumbo pay: Senators, Reps set for upward review of emoluments
Jumbo pay: Senators, Reps set for upward review of emoluments
NigerianEye
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Sunday, June 19, 2011
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This lawmakers are insensitive to the plight of the masses. Workers are not paid even the minimum wage, still they are requesting for increament, we are in trouble.
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