NNPP chieftain rejects pay rise for president, others, says proposal insensitive

Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, a chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), says he is rejecting the reported plan by the federal government to raise the salaries of political office holders.

According to him, such a move was insensitive to the current plights of Nigerians due to the present economic challenges.

Oguntoyinbo said many Nigerians were groaning under unprecedented hardship due to the harsh economy, adding that what was expected of the political officeholders was to make sacrifices.

Recall that the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) had recently hinted at plans to review the salaries of political office holders in Nigeria, describing current earnings as inadequate, unrealistic, and outdated in the face of rising responsibilities and economic challenges.

At a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, RMAFC Chairman Mohammed Shehu disclosed that President Bola Tinubu presently earns N1.5 million monthly.

At the same time, ministers receive less than N1 million, figures that have remained unchanged 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,” he said.

“Everybody believes that it is a joke. 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 Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor or the Director General (DG) 10 times more than you pay the President; that is just not right.

“Or you pay him (the head of an agency) 20 times higher than the Attorney-General of the Federation. That is absolutely not right,” he’d said.

However, Oguntoyinbo said at a time when reforms demanded sacrifice, this proposal smacked of greed, tone-deafness and moral bankruptcy.

He added that a progressive government in moments of economic crisis, like Nigeria is currently going through, will reduce the cost of governance, rather than inflate it.

“It is insensitive to increase political office holders’ salaries while workers have been struggling for a living wage without an appropriate response from the governments,” he said.

“The proposed increase in salaries of the President, Vice President, and other political office holders at this time of economic hardship will amount to insensitivity to the plights of ordinary Nigerians.

“The current workers’ minimum wage is not enough to provide the means of livelihood for any worker. The inflation is biting harder on Nigerians.

“Contrary to the poor conditions of Nigerians, political office holders are flashing their riches and displaying their wealth openly with utter disregard for the conditions of ordinary citizens.

“To now increase the salaries of these political office holders will not augur well for our country.

“In countries where the economy is bad, what is obtained is for the political office holders to reduce their earnings as a sacrifice. It is with this that they will have the moral right to preach to ordinary citizens to make a sacrifice.

“RMAFC must immediately drop this self-serving scheme. What the nation requires today is fiscal discipline, leadership by sacrifice, not political overlords fattening themselves while citizens starve.”