A South West chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Chief Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, has strongly rejected the reported plan by the Federal Government to increase the salaries of political office holders, including the President, Vice-President, ministers, and others. He described the proposal as highly insensitive to the harsh economic realities currently facing Nigerians.
Ajadi argued that the majority of Nigerians are enduring severe hardship due to the prevailing economic downturn, stressing that what is needed from public office holders at this time is sacrifice, not additional benefits.
His reaction follows recent indications from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission of plans to review the salaries of political leaders.
The commission claimed the current earnings are outdated and insufficient given the growing scope of responsibilities and the prevailing economic climate.
At a press conference held in Abuja on Monday, RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Shehu, disclosed that President Bola Tinubu currently earns N1.5 million monthly, while ministers earn less than N1 million. These figures, according to him, 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. Everybody believes that it is a joke,” Shehu said.
“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 CBN governor or the DG ten times more than you pay the President. That is just not right. Or you pay him [the head of an agency] twenty times higher than the Attorney-General of the Federation. That is absolutely not right,” he added.
However, in a statement issued on Wednesday, Ajadi described the demand as an act of “greed, tone-deafness, and moral bankruptcy” at a time when Nigerians are being asked to make sacrifices under painful economic reforms.
According to him, “The proposed increase in salaries of the President, Vice and other political office holders at this time of economic hardship will amount to insensitivity to the plights of ordinary Nigerians.”
He noted that workers across the country have long been agitating for a living wage, yet governments have failed to act decisively in their favour. “The current Workers’ minimum wage is not enough to provide the means of livelihood for any worker. The inflation is biting harder on Nigerians,” he said.
Ajadi further criticized the lavish lifestyle of some political elites, stating that “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.”
He pointed to international examples where political leaders took pay cuts during economic crises as a show of solidarity with citizens. “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 sacrifices.”
Ajadi referenced global precedents, saying, “In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her cabinet reduced their pay by 20% during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the 2008 financial crisis, Ireland slashed ministerial and parliamentary salaries by as much as 30%. In the midst of Greece’s sovereign debt crisis, ministers and Members of Parliament took salary cuts in solidarity with citizens.”
“True leaders tighten their belts first before asking citizens to bear the burden of reform. For Nigeria’s political class to even consider ‘jumbo salaries’ at a time of rising inflation, subsidy removal, unemployment and worsening poverty is unconscionable.”
Ajadi concluded by calling on RMAFC to abandon what he described as a self-serving proposal. “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,” he said.
