FG & unpaid workers’ salaries:Wives & kids the greatest victims

Apparently flowing with the mood of the times, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has been reported to have reviewed the salaries of the nation’s leading public officers downwards. The agency, which has the statutory responsibility of fixing wages of public sector workers in the country, has reportedly fixed President Muhammadu Buhari’s annual salary at N14.4 million and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s at N12.1 million. The salaries of all other political office holders have also been tinkered with, in line with the resolve of Nigerians to reduce the high cost of governance in the country.

It must, however, be noted that it is not the salaries of the public office holders that are so high, but their allowances, especially their constituency allowance which, alone, is 250 per cent of their annual salaries; accommodation allowance which is up to 200 per cent of annual salaries in some instances such as the Vice Presidents, and furniture allowance of 300 percent of annual salary in certain cases. There are also the huge security votes, that are said to be up to N200 million for state governors and N2 million for local government chairmen.

While the President, Vice-President, Senate President and Speaker of House of Representatives have virtually all their needs provided, members of the National Assembly receive huge allowances for their needs, such as vehicles, utilities, newspapers, medicals, entertainment, clothing, personal aides and domestic staff.

Although members of the National Assembly have always decried the outcry over their salaries and argued that the amount they receive is not as high as widely believed, there is no arguing the fact that the allowances that they earn are out of sync with the nation’s economic realities.

The need to bring down the salaries has, as a matter of fact, been endorsed by some members of the National Assembly themselves.  Senator Dino Melaye, APC, from Kogi State had earlier championed a salary cut for federal lawmakers, Senator Ben Bruce, representative for Bayelsa East zone, has also promised support for lower salaries, but wants the pay cut to cut across board.

There are, however, many within the NASS who dispute the huge salaries up till date and are averse to a reduction. Among those in this category are Chief Joe Edionwele, (PDP) representing Esan West, Esan Central and Igueben Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives

It has become necessary to reduce the high allowances of federal legislators and other political appointees in the country. Apart from the fact that dwindling national revenue has made the cut imperative, lowering the remuneration for these offices will go a long way in reducing the desperation with which Nigerians seek the offices. Attaining the office will no longer be a matter of life or death. Possibly, then, the offices will begin to attract the best crop of Nigerians who are willing to come into office to do their best for their country, and not those who view public office as the juiciest business in town. It may bring about a new view of political office as a sacrificial public service to the people, and not an avenue to drain or feed fat on the public treasury.

The salaries of this category of public officers constitute a huge drain on the national purse. Already, there are reports that N9 billion may have been set aside by the management of the National Assembly for the payment of accommodation, vehicle, furniture and other allowances to the federal legislators next week. The amount is said to be 850 per cent of their salaries. The payment of 300 per cent housing allowance is a direct fallout of the sale of the official residences of National Assembly     members in the Apo Legislative Quarters during the regime of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, under the monetization scheme.

The payment of these huge sums at a time that workers in about 23 states in the country are being owed salaries of between one and 11 months is apalling. Although the states that are owing these salaries can be said to be directly responsible for the misfortune of their workers, and should be made to explain how the states got into the messy situation, this scenario in which workers are languishing in debt in many states and local governments, while political office holders are reveling in abundance is patently unfair. The Federal Government has a responsibility to step in to address the problems of Nigerians wherever they may be in the country.

This, certainly, is one of the areas in which the mantra of change on which the nation’s present leaders emerged should be demonstrated. The task of ensuring that public sector workers are paid should be prioritized by the Buhari government. Although the Federal Government, itself, has been reported to be indebted to some foreign institutions to the tune of about N400 billion which it has been using to pay the salaries of federal civil servants, it is important that the federal authorities do whatever is necessary to bail out the states and local governments to bring some respite to the beleaguered workers.

This may be in form of loans or other advances that can be deducted from the states’ allocations when revenue accruing to the Federation Account for sharing returns to normal.

One lesson that Nigerians should learn from the unpaid salaries saga is the need for prudent management of resources to ensure that the different levels of government in the country do not run aground as appears to be the case in some states now. All arms of government must eschew profligacy while the arms of government such as the state and federal legislators are ready to make necessary sacrifices, including pay cuts, to free funds for development projects.

The present situation in the country in which recurrent expenditure on salaries and the like make up the bulk of the federal budget, with very little left for capital expenditure, does not augur well for national development. It must be reversed.