The statement by President Muhammadu Buhari supporting the hefty remunerations that the Nigerian lawmakers take home is being pummeled by the Nigerian Bar Association and organised labour.
They expressed their disappointment in the president's statement, describing it as not just disappointing, but it is also indicative of the president's blithe disregard for the harsh economic reality of Nigeria.
In the statement, the president had said, on Wednesday at the launch of The Green Chamber Magazine by the House of Representatives, he said, “Hitherto, the public perception of the National Assembly is that of a bicameral legislature where overly comfortable and highly-overpaid members merely stuff wads of currency notes into their pockets for little work done. This wrong perception has resulted partly from the lack of understanding of the enormous work of lawmakers, especially outside the glare of television cameras.”
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Economic Realities
Speaking with PUNCH on Sunday, the President of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (Trade Union Side), AbdlRauf Adeniji, said that, “The position of labour is clear on this matter. Nigeria is the only place where lawmakers are being paid jumbo salaries. It does not happen even in the United States or the United Kingdom. Maybe the President is alluding to the fact that all of them (lawmakers and executive) are affected. Those in the executive cadre do not even have measure for their salaries. They take the money as they like.
“Buhari may be saying what is relative to the executive plan. But there is no comparative basis for him to say that lawmakers are not overpaid. Their allowances alone cannot be compared to any earning in Nigeria. As far as labour is concerned, the payment for lawmakers and those in the executive arm is beyond reach.
“He cannot deceive us to say that the legislators are not being overpaid. He should provide evidence where a country’s legislature is earning more than what those in Nigeria are earning. They are using the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission to increase their salaries.
“We are all drawing from the resources of the nation, whether you are a career or political officer. In other climes, productivity is used as the criterion to determine earning. What role is the legislative arm playing in the nation’s development? We believe that they do not create wealth for Nigeria, labour does that.”
Mr. Adeniji noted that in the face of these huge salaries, Nigerians still demand quality representation.
“The members of the National Assembly of Nigeria are reported to be amongst the best remunerated parliamentarians in the world. The question is, ‘are their pay realistic and considerate of the present economic condition of Nigeria?" he said.
“It is time that political leaders started redefining the true essence of service and sacrifice. In a country where the national minimum salary is N30,000 per month the remunerations of our parliamentarians would be difficult to justify.
“In spite of their very comfortable remunerations Nigerians are still yearning for quality representation. Corruption is on the increase. There is insecurity everywhere.
Speech Inconsistency
The variance in the president's speech through the years have been put to question by the Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani, who had showed no surprise to the statement, he explained, “This statement of Mr President is not consistent with his claim for financial prudence by public officials. Also it is not based on any economic capability of our income. Again, this statement is tantamount to deepening electoral violence as all you need to do is get yourself into an elective position because you have huge salaries and allowances waiting for you without any accountability or justification.”
Oludare said, “President Buhari’s statement directly contradicts his own Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, which has repeatedly stated that members of Nigeria’s National Assembly are grossly overpaid. According to Prof Itse Sagay (SAN), a Nigerian senator earns at least N15m monthly, while a member of the House of Representatives earns N13.5m monthly.”
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