Ministers, federal legislators, the Auditor General of the Federation, the Accountant General of the Federation, top judges, and others would get almost N4.1 billion for gasoline and car maintenance over the next four years, according to Saturday PUNCH research.
The Auditor General of the Federation, Accountant General of the Federation, and each of the Federal permanent secretaries would receive N1,444,398.75 annually, according to a Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission document that our correspondent was able to obtain. Each minister would also receive N1,519,800, a minister of state N1,468,185, and N1,457,156.25 for special advisers.
This means that each year, the 32 ministers would receive N48,633,600; the 13 ministers of state would receive N19,086,405; the five Special Advisers to President Bola Tinubu would receive N7,285,781.25; and the Auditor General of the Federation, Accountant General of the Federation, and the approximately 50 federal permanent secretaries would receive N75,108,735.
In addition, each senator will be paid the same as a minister, which is N1,519,800 per year. Thus, the 109 senators would earn N165,658,200 each year, while the 360 members of the House of Representatives would receive N536,007,240 per year, for a total of N1,488,909 per representative in the lower chamber.
According to their respective websites, the 12 justices of the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the 73 judges of the Court of Appeal, including the Appeal Court President, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory and the 36 states, the President of the National Industrial Court, Grand Khadi, the FCT Sharia Court of Appeal, and others would receive N1,496,572.50 each. This is equivalent to N187,071,562.5 a year.
The price is N1,038,851,523.75 annually and N4,155,406,095 over a four-year period for the positions mentioned.
‘Remuneration package for political, public, and judicial office holders (February 2007 to June 2009)’ is the title of the RMAFC document. Even though the provisions in the document were supposed to be reviewed in 2009, results revealed that it is still in effect since it has not been evaluated.
Following the termination of the petrol subsidy by President Bola Tinubu on May 29, the cost of gasoline has been a source of anxiety for many Nigerians. Fuel prices have climbed since then, from N162 per litre to between N570 and N617.
Auwal Rafsanjani, Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre and Head of the Transition Monitoring Group, commented on the subject, saying that public authorities should be attentive to Nigerians’ predicament. He stated that the elite should likewise make compromises.
Rafsanjani stated:
“People in public service are elected or appointed to serve, so there must be mechanisms that allow for proper accountability. There is no free money in government; public servants must get rid of such mentality. Nigerians are going through a lot and leaders must be sensitive to their plight.”
Festus Osifo, National President of the Trade Union Congress, also stated that the Federal Government shows little urgency in resolving Nigerians’ situation.
According to him,
“Nigerians believe you are asking us to keep making sacrifices but they have not seen the same sacrifices from the political class.”
cc: Punch Ng
