Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation
and Fiscal Commission, Mr. Elias Mbam, in
this interview with EVEREST AMAEFULE,
speaks on the stormy issue of salaries and
allowances of political office holders




You have set up a committee to review the
salaries and allowances of political, public
and judicial office holders. Before we get
to that, how did we arrive at such
allowances that some Nigerians consider
outrageous?




In 2007, that was about eight years ago;
this commission reviewed the then salaries
and allowances of political and public
office holders. That was done in
consideration of many factors. One of
them was the monetisation of perks of
office holders.
Before the monetisation, office holders of
very high level were provided with vehicles,
with houses, and maintained by
government. Two, the commission then took
into consideration the fundamentals of the
Nigerian economy. It looked at the Gross
Domestic Product growth rate, the
inflation, and also wanted to ensure
honesty and prestige of the office holder.
Most importantly, it looked at
affordability and sustainability. Some of
these allowances are not peculiar to only
political office holders. There are some
other agencies of government that also
enjoy same.
That was how they arrived at the review
of the remunerations of the office holders
then. Since that was passed into law in
2008, this commission has not reviewed it
again. It has remained so since then.
Unfortunately, some people think that the
commission on daily basis changes the
salaries particularly of the National
Assembly members.




So why do you want to review the packages
downward now?




One is that the economic realities of today
demand that we look at the prevailing
circumstance and let it reflect on
remunerations. As I said earlier, we have to
ensure affordability and sustainability. Is
the present salary affordable and
sustainable? And of course, you cannot
ignore the plea of Nigerians about the
merits and the demerits of the current
packages.
There was an attempt by the commission to
review the packages downwards during the
time of the late President Umaru
Yar’Adua. That review never saw the light
of the day.




Why was the review
unsuccessful?




I wouldn’t know because I wasn’t here
then. From the much I know as a Nigerian,
it was inconclusive. I wouldn’t want to use
the word unsuccessful. It was inconclusive.
What do you want to do differently now to
ensure that the bill is passed?
Well, this one; the mood of the nation
supports it. The National Assembly is even
in the forefront of the review. So if the
problem was the National Assembly; this
time I am lucky. If the leadership of the
National Assembly is in support of the
review, and the Nigerian people are in
support of the review, and the
governments at all levels are in support of
the review; I wonder why it should not be
successful.




What are we expecting in the review? Is it
going to concentrate on the salaries or the
allowances?




If you look at the remuneration package,
the bulk of it is on allowances. Take for
instance, the annual salary of a legislator
is about N2m. I am not sure that is a
concern to anybody. It is the allowances.
And the law also is clear that you don’t
reduce the salary after the appointment.
Everybody knows that the problem or the
issue is not the salary but the allowances.
So we are looking at the allowances.
It is not going to be the affair of the
commission alone. It is going to be an
affair of all Nigerians, all stakeholders,
and all levels of government. Within a
week, we will advertise for submission of
memoranda. We will invite memoranda from
Nigerians so you have an opportunity
yourself to make your own input. And we
are outlining areas of concentration in that
publication.




What are those areas of concentrations?




The allowances – ranging from vehicle,
housing, to estacodes. It will be detailed.
So are we likely to see an upward review
of the basic salary?




The process will determine that.




The judges kicked against the downward
review of their earnings. How do you
intend to tackle that?




What Nigerians say, we will do.




So are you going to put it to voting?




I set the process. What I mean by process
is that first of all, we are going to invite
memoranda. Two, we are going to meet to
interact with stakeholders. We are going to
meet; including with the judiciary, the
executive at all levels of government. We
will meet with Nigerians, stakeholders. We
will also administer questionnaire. So all
these will come up and we also compare
with what obtains elsewhere. So, it is not a
question of I wish; I don’t wish.




We are at a time when many states are not
able to pay salaries and you are the
chairman of RMAFC. Is it that the
workforce is bloated or the remuneration is
bloated?




My thinking is that they did not prioritise
their needs; with the possibility of
wastage, with the possibility of
unnecessary expenditure. I don’t see why a
government should not pay its workers.
That is the first thing that should be done.
They are now calling it stomach
infrastructure. If you didn’t eat, you
would not have been able to come here for
this interview. Imagine somebody that has
not been paid for six months! I think we
should reorder our priorities.
I also feel strongly that if the states
managed their resources and also don’t
rely fully on revenue they get from the
federation account, they wouldn’t have this
problem.




Another problem is the huge sum of money
that legislators, for instance, take every
quarter that is called constituency project.
How do we tackle this problem?




I am happy that somebody is pointing this
out. I feel, too, that many people are not
well informed about the salaries and
allowances determined by the commission.
From what have been determined, nobody
in the National Assembly should get more
than N1m in salaries and allowances. You
cannot call severance allowance salary and
you cannot call a vehicle loan allowance.
The salaries and allowances include the
salaries of personal assistant to the
legislator. It also includes the domestic
staff. So by the time you remove all those
ones, you will be surprised that the salary
is much lower than N1m.




There have been allegations that they take
more allowances than the commission has
prescribed.




The law is very clear. If you take beyond
what the law says, the chief accounting
officer should be held accountable. I also
expect that the journalist should invoke the
Freedom of Information Act and not rely
on rumours or speculations.




But a Non-Governmental Organisation
invoked that law and it did not work. They
refused to give a breakdown of their
budget.




Is it not a law? Why not take it to the
court of law? If you want information
from this office and I refuse to give it to
you, the FOI is clear on what you should do.
So, I don’t think it is enough reason that
you tried and you could not get it.




Let us take you to some specific
allowances which you have mentioned.
There is personal assistant; there is
domestic staff; there are legislative aides
and there is special assistant. Don’t you
see some duplication here?




It is good we read the law very well. The
special assistant is supposed to come from
the system. Like the National Assembly
which you mentioned, the National
Assembly Service Commission is supposed
to provide the special assistant. The PA is
personal to him.
The service recognises that at the level of
a legislator, a level of service should be
provided. It is not everything that you will
have time to attend to.
It also recognises that a level of domestic
staff like cook, gardener, and steward
should be provided. The only thing
different now is that instead of
government recruiting and posting them to
your house; you are paid and you now
recruit and pay the people.




You had mentioned that some of these
allowances also apply to services other than
political office holders. Given the
circumstances we have found ourselves, are
you recommending a service-wide review
of salaries and allowances?




If I were to do that, I would have long
released the result. It is a process. I am
here not to serve myself but to serve
Nigerians. So it is not my wish that
matters. If it were my wish, I would have
long given it.

www.punchng.com/feature/hotseat/no-lawmaker-earns-n1m-a-month-rmafc-chairman/

.
Ok tell us how much you earn

Very incoherent the way you posted this op


No spacing and you didn't bold the questions

Just reduce it, too outrageous.

NASS pay is secretive and unknown like the whereabouts of Chibok girls.

scribble:
Very incoherent the way you posted this op

No spacing and you didn't bold the questions

increased d spacing

Now playing....lil wayne-Glory

kromoto:
NASS pay is secretive and unknown like the whereabouts of Chibok girls.

lol my bro,notn is hidden unda d sun.It shall be known in #fullnessoftime

kossyablaze:
lol my bro,notn is hidden unda d sun.It shall be known in #fullnessoftime

Sorry I forgot the part of fullness of time!

Na true. Them dey eat more than 1million self. This people think say dem fit deceive us or believe the crap their saying. Mtchhhhhhh Nonsence

i can bet on my last penny that none of these commenters read the whole story

Incoherent Nigerian public office holders....

Could not read that tho But all I smell is BAD BELLE!

We all know that sir

What is one million?

Its exactly 27 million sir

So you are right sir!!!

Shortyy:
i can bet on my last penny that none of these commenters read the whole story

the thing long die sha.