Political Office Holders Deserve Pay Rise To Stop Stealing – Akure Lawyer

By Ayodele Oni

An Ondo State- based Legal Practitioner, Femi Emodamori, has justified a pay rise for political office holders in the country.

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) had hinted at plans to review the salaries of political office holders in Nigeria.

At a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, RMAFC Chairman Mohammed Shehu described current earnings as “inadequate, unrealistic, and outdated.”

He noted that President Bola Tinubu earns ₦1.5m monthly, while ministers receive less than ₦1m, figures that have remained unchanged since 2008.

Shehu said, “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.”

He added, “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.”

Emodamori, in a statement in Akure on Tuesday, stated that “When some of us come on public platforms to say that the legitimate pay of the Nigerian President is less than N1.7m and that Governors earn far below N1m as their legitimate pay, some people laugh in disbelief.

“The call for increase in the salaries of political office holders by Mohammed Shehu, the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RAMFAC)  is another confirmation from the horse’s mouth.

“RAMFAC is the Agency created by Section 153 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to fix the salaries and allowances of certain public office holders.

“However, our problem has never been their pay, but their pilfering (stealing). I earn at least three times the legitimate salary of the President and at least five times the legitimate salary of a Governor. I am therefore not against the proposed increase in their salaries.

“But political office holders cannot continue in jumbo theft and expect jumbo pay rise as a reward. That apart, I also doubt if those who spend hundreds of millions and sometimes billions of Naira to campaign for election into public offices are actually concerned about the legitimate salaries for such offices.

“Our priority should be how to abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power as stated in Section 15 (5) of the Constitution.”