The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission has officially initiated a review of the remuneration packages for political and public officeholders across Nigeria.
This review could result in substantial changes to their earnings, which have remained largely unchanged for nearly two decades. In preparation for a formal announcement, the Commission is holding a strategic retreat in Kano to harmonise reports ahead of finalising and publishing the updated salary structure.
Opening the retreat, Hon. Mohammed Kabeer Usman, Chairman of RMAFC’s Remuneration and Monetisation Committee and Gombe State representative on the Commission, said the exercise is key to promoting stability and enhancing governance in Nigeria. Usman stated that the Committee’s mandate is to merge earlier reports with new inputs, creating a unified framework to direct implementation.
“The Commission carefully considered a wide range of perspectives, including memoranda from stakeholders, public hearings, and ministerial submissions, while also drawing from economic indicators and remuneration practices in other countries,” he said.
He noted that the review goes beyond adjusting figures, emphasizing the need to assess the long-term sustainability of any changes.
“The Commission has also evaluated the government’s capacity to implement the revised package, ensuring that recommendations are fair, realistic, and sustainable,” he added.
Usman reminded participants that under the 1999 Constitution (as amended), RMAFC is empowered to determine appropriate remuneration for political, public, and judicial officeholders at all levels of government.
Usman urged retreat participants to ensure that their deliberations produce outcomes that are balanced and serve the best interests of the Nigerian system.
“I implore everyone to contribute towards achieving the purpose of our gathering, given our varied knowledge and wealth of experience,” he said.
The retreat is anticipated to lay the groundwork for a framework that will guide future remuneration packages for political and public officeholders across the country.
Recall the RMAFC Chairman Mohammed Shehu, earlier emphasized the need to revise the salaries of political officeholders, noting that President Tinubu earns N1.5 million monthly, while ministers receive less than N1 million—amounts that have not been updated since 2008.
“You are paying the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria N1.5 million a month, with a population of over 200 million people. Everybody believes that it is a joke,” Shehu remarked.
He added, “You cannot pay a minister less than N1 million 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.”
