The Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have kicked against plans by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to increase salaries of public office holders.
RMAFC, an agency responsible for determining salary structure in Nigeria, had announced recently that it has concluded arrangements to review the remuneration of political and public office holders as well as judicial officers in the country.
The move will also jerk up the bumper salaries of the president, vice president, Senate president, Speaker, judicial officers and other public office holders.
But both IPAC and the CSOs in the country rejected the move, insisting that it was untimely.
Transparency International (TI), the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) said it was absurd that the idea was even hatched to increase the remuneration of top political office holders who are already collecting huge amount of money as salary with pension and allowances
The CSOs stated: “It is not timely. They have a huge amount of money they are taking. We need to reduce it. The president, Vice President, Senate President Speaker and other judicial officers, have a huge amount of money as salary with pension and allowances”.
Speaking through their leader, Awwal Musa Rafsanjani, the CSOs urged Nigerians to rise up and ensure the salaries of such public officers are reduced instead.
Rafsanjani said, “We must emphasise reduction in the cost of governance. When civil servants, university lecturers are crying, we ignore the 2009 agreement. But political office holders, most of whom don’t even contribute much, are taking huge amounts of money as salaries.
“What they are earning is not even sustainable. That’s why elections are do-or-die because once you are there you determine what to do with public funds.
“RMAFC must regulate what they are doing because public officials are already taking huge amounts of money while civil servants and university lecturers are suffering. Government should not create further burdens on the economy.
“We don’t think it is a good timing, especially when they are saying there is no money. They want to increase political violence because people will want to get government privileges. RMAFC must not implement this now,” the CSOs said.
