Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s nominee for president, has criticised the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission’s (RMAFC) proposed salary increment for President Bola Tinubu, Vice-President Kashim Shettima, other politicians, and judicial staff, calling for the reversal because it will worsen the financial hardship already endured by more than 130 impoverished Nigerians.
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In a series of tweets on Thursday, Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, advocated for reversing the anticipated wage increase, arguing that leaders should make sacrifices for their constituents.
I learnt with great reservation, the approval of a 114% increase in the salaries of elected politicians, including the President, vice president, governors, lawmakers as well as judicial and public office holders by the Revenue Mobilisation,
— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) June 22, 2023
He tweeted;
I learnt with great reservation, the approval of a 114% increase in the salaries of elected politicians, including the president, vice president, governors, lawmakers, as well as judicial and public office holders by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
We are living in a time when an average Nigerian is struggling with many harsh economic realities, and with over 130 million Nigerians now living in poverty.
This is a moment when recent reform measures by the government have increased living costs astronomically.
Obi added;
The sacrifice, at this time in our nation, should be borne by the leaders. The increment should be reversed immediately, and the savings should be devoted to fixing education, healthcare and poverty alleviation, especially in the remote rural areas.
The state-owned newspaper News Agency of Nigeria claimed on Wednesday that RMFAC increased the compensation of Messrs. Tinubu and Shettima and other political and judicial officeholders by 114%, citing Rakiya Tanko-Ayuba, who represented RMAFC chairman Muhammadu Shehu on Tuesday in Birnin Kebbi.
Nigerians criticised Mr. Tinubu for calling for sacrifice after the sudden elimination of gasoline subsidies without offering citizens any relief, while he and other lawmakers received pay raises.
In the midst of the uproar from the public over the proposed pay rise for Mr Tinubu and other lawmakers, RMFAC spokesperson Christian Nwachukwu said that it had not been approved.
“No approval yet. There is no approval yet,” Mr Nwachukwu told Leadership Newspaper on Wednesday. “I don’t know the source of that story. Everything is under the process. It has to come as a Bill for Mr President to assent.”
