When will NASS members slash their salaries and allowances?

By Lillian Okenwa

The Nigerian Labour Union NLC has been accused of an attempt to cripple the nation following recent nationwide strike and their insistence that Nigerian workers could no longer earn slave wages.

In a joint statement posted on the X handle of the organised labour and signed by Joe Ajaero, President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Festus Osifo, President of the Trade Union Congress TUC, the Unions said:

“While remuneration of public office holders in Nigeria are calculated at parity or even above the wages of their contemporaries outside the country including those of developed economies, Nigerian workers are regaled with tales of government’s inability to pay decent and living wages to workers who are the one who produce the wealth that they squander. This is tragic!

“In the face of galloping inflation marked by unprecedented food inflation of 40% and general inflation of 33% (government sources), there is no gainsaying the fact that Nigerians especially workers are currently living just on the edge…”

Meanwhile, an  advocacy group, Patriotic Volunteers for Good Governance, has called on the National Assembly members to take a pay cut that will reflect the present economic realities. This is even as the House of Representatives has told NLC to stop divulging information about the earnings of members of the National Assembly to the public.

In 2023, members of the House of Representatives demanded an upward review of their salaries and allowances, following the removal of fuel subsidy.

Describing President Bola Tinubu’s appeal to the organised labour as “An Effort in Dishonesty”, an X user Godswill Nwankwo further remarked that: “The administration’s reluctance to provide a living wage for Nigerians is not only a testament to its dishonesty but also a glaring example of its indifference to the plight of the average Nigerian worker….

“The monthly earnings of Nigerian senators are a testament to the gross inequities perpetuated by the Tinubu administration… [S]enators receive an amount that is staggeringly high and inconsiderate given the economic conditions and inflation that workers struggle with daily….

PUNCH in its Editorial of Friday, June 07, 2024 adds: “The distasteful revelations that the National Assembly padded the 2024 federal budget by N3 trillion and awarded over N500 million contracts to members under the opaque and corruption-ridden constituency projects marks another nadir in the looting of the public treasury….

“BudgIT, a civic-tech non-profit organisation, said the NASS inserted 7,447 constituency projects worth N2.24 trillion in the 2024 budget. The organisation said most of the projects have “no national significance but narrowed to personal interests.”

Moreover, Senator Ali Ndume who got suspended by the Senate for revealing too much abour their earnings admitted that 10 leaders in the chamber, including himself, got more than the usual ₦200 million constituency project fund allocated to each senator. Likewise, Senator Ned Nwoko admitted in an interview on Saturday, March 16, 2024 that he got close to ₦1 billion for constituency projects because he relied on his “weight and contacts.”

Sadly, most of these constituency projects are as bewildering as they are ridiculous. A member representing Bassa/Dekina Federal constituency in the 10th National Assembly, Paul Gowon Haruna, has just built a traditional well for members of his constituency. Haruna, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress and also a former member of the Kogi State House of Assembly, donated the well as his constituency project.

Umar Muda Lawal did better. In July 2021 while representing Toro Federal Constituency of Bauchi State he donated 10 deep wells( not boreholes) to his constituents and announced it on his Twitter page (now X):

‘This time we are going outside the box to construct 10 deep wells in 10 rural towns and villages of Toro LGA. Because traditional wells are often more reliable and last longer than any modern small-scale water supply system, Most wells today are centuries old and still working.”

Senator Rufai Sani Hanga  openly and proudly donated burial materials to his constituents. These items were made up of white fabrics and clay pots used for burial in his place. This is equivalent to distributing caskets to constituents but according to him, it is in response to frequent requests for burial assistance by his people.

According to the Senator: “Before I became a senator, many people knew me with the gesture; when I became senator, some groups came requesting that I should purchase materials for them to maintain their graveyards. And I decided to spread the gesture to all the 15 Local Government Areas of my constituency.”

 Daniel Ukpera, a Benue politician, donated ropes to ‘his people’, with which to tie their goats. He did not provide the goats; just the ropes for the goats!

Maigari Bello-Kasimu, representing Jalingo/Yorro/Zing federal constituency in Taraba State, upped the ante by donating wheelbarrows to the poor, who had hitherto hired these one-wheel vehicles on a daily basis.

In August 2021, Hon. Evangelist Margaret Inde, the Chairman of Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State, empowered pilot farmers each with a hoe, cutlass, and one tuber of yam. Just one tuber of yam.

On July 9, 2021, Senator Oriolowo of Osun West in the 9th Assembly unveiled an Airtel mast at Ago-Owu Farm Settlement as a constituency project, saying it exemplified APC fidelity with promises. Airtel might be contemplating an action for conversion.

Nigerian senators are considered some of the highest paid lawmakers across the world, but this is only possible when you consider all the perks they have access to that are secret from the public and not under the oversight of the Revenue Mobilsation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC.) the agency that decides the salaries and allowances of public officials.

But how much do Nigerian senators actually earn?

It doesn’t end there.

The RMAFC last reviewed the remuneration package in 2007 and the agency’s attempt to increase the package by 114% last year was cancelled following a public outcry.