The Debate over Public Officers’ Pay

More than ever before, the country needs to slash the emoluments of public office holders as part of efforts to cut the cost of governance, writes Vincent Obia

President Muhammadu Buhari has, no doubt, had difficulty getting down to business since his inauguration on May 29. This has been attributed to a number of issues. But the most plausible, it does seem, is the paucity of funds. The reality on the ground supports this position, which has also been canvassed by sources close to the government – contrary to widely held belief that the delay is linked to the turbulence within Buhari’s All Progressives Congress. Some have also accused the president of lacking a leadership blueprint.

Whatever be the case, the fact is that Nigeria faces a grim reality of funds shortage, which has reached a critical point where urgent belt-tightening measures are needed.

Of late, a debate has raged about the emoluments of National Assembly members. Many have criticised the about N150 billion annual budget for the 469-member bicameral legislature. The outbreak of such debate has seemed to be a regular fair at the dawn of every new legislative session since the Fourth Republic. What with the disparity between the remunerations of Nigerian federal legislators and their counterparts in other democracies, the concerns raised by Nigerians are definitely valid.

The monthly earning of a Nigerian senator has been put at nearly N30 million (about $189,000). This includes over 12 layers of allowances calculated as percentages of his annual basic salary of N2, 484,245.50.

The average United States lawmaker earns $180, 960 (N27.6 million) annually. The lawmaker in the United Kingdom earns $104, 232 (about N15.6 million) annually. In Sweden, a lawmaker earns in a year $92, 484 (about N14. 4 million). That was before the recent official devaluation of the naira and the astronomical increase in the exchange rate of the dollar to the naira.

The pay disparity is thrown into sharp relief by the monthly national minimum wage of N18, 000, which only the federal government and a few states have been able to implement.

According to the Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc.) (Amendment) Act 2008, the president and the vice president are entitled to annual basic salaries of N3, 514, 705 and N3, 031, 572.50, respectively. When all allowances payable each month are added, Buhari will take home N1, 171,568.33 each month, and N14, 058, 820.00 yearly, and the vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, will receive N1, 010, 524.17 monthly, and N12, 126,290.00 per annum.

Under the Act, federal ministers, Chief of Staff to the President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and Head of Civil Service of the Federation are each entitled to annual basic salaries of 2, 026, 400. But, just like the lawmakers, numerous categories of allowances shoot their monthly pay to tens of millions of naira.

The salaries and allowances of public officers, which form a rather small percentage of the country’s annual budgets, may not seem particularly significant. But when viewed in relation to the total overhead budget, the amount is staggering.

In 2010, the then Governor of Cen- tral Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, declared that the federal lawmakers consumed 25 per cent of the country’s overhead budget – though, the claim was denied by the National Assembly.

Buhari is reported to have offered to slash his pay. The amount involved here may not be substantial, but the move to draw down his emolument could be key to the badly needed effort to cut down the cost of governance in the country.

The National Assembly has also announced moves to cut the emoluments of the lawmakers, and the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission has set up a committee to review the salaries and allowances of political, public and judicial officeholders. Spokesperson of the Commission, Ibrahim Mohammed, said the review committee headed by Abdullahi Inde will soon call for public presentation of memoranda in an effort to ensure citizens’ input in the determination of the salaries and allowances of public officers.

The media is awash with articles on the pay controversy, all proclaiming the same sentiment: public officers in Nigeria earn outrageous remunerations that constitute a drag on national development. While the debate and effort to place the issue on the popular consciousness are necessary, it will certainly do the country a lot more good if the general public can utilise the available windows open to them to push quality positions on the remunerations of the public office holders.