Mohammed Shehu, Chairman of Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), has stated that some public servants earn bigger salaries than President Muhammadu Buhari.
Shehu made the statement during an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, December 1.
The RMAFC boss who spoke on the commission’s plan to review judicial and political holders’ salaries, said some staff of government agencies like the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), amongst others, earn emoluments bigger than the President.
He said;
“The severance package of the president is just N10.5 million. This is after the president leaves office. You can imagine after spending four or eight years, that would be the only take-home. The salary of Mr President is not up to N1.3 million a month.
“There are people in the private sector and others in other public sectors that earn twice, three times or four times. No public servant should earn a salary bigger than Mr President. But we do have public servants that earn salaries bigger than Mr President, but we do have public servants that earn bigger than Mr President: NCC, NIMASA, NPA, Central Bank.
“My argument has always been that no public servant should earn allowances, severances, or salaries larger than the president of the federal republic of Nigeria, and I stand by it.”
Commenting on how salaries would be reviewed, especially on current realities, Shehu said;
“When you do a review, the takeoff point is not immediate. And this is a process that has to go to the president and then to the national assembly, and then it becomes a law.
“I can not tell you whether we can afford it or not, but what I can tell you is there are unremitted revenues out there, probably estimated from N6 trillion to N7 trillion that should be remitted to the federation account.”
