Nigerians Say ‘Enough’: Reject Pay Rise for Tinubu, Shettima, Akpabio, Others
The Nigerian Government is reportedly considering a salary review for political office holders, after years of complaints that their current pay is outdated and inadequate.
PulseNets learnt that the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Mohammed Shehu, made the disclosure at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday.
Shehu revealed that President Bola Tinubu currently earns N1.5 million monthly, while ministers take home less than N1 million — figures that 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.
He further argued that the current wage gap between ministers and heads of federal agencies is unjustifiable, pointing out that some agency chiefs earn as much as twenty times more than the Attorney-General of the Federation or serving ministers.
But PulseNets reported that the proposal has sparked fresh controversy in a country where millions of ordinary workers are still clamouring for a living wage amid inflation, food insecurity, and rising poverty levels.
Nigeria’s wage crisis vs. political pay rise
The debate comes at a time when Nigeria’s minimum wage is pegged at N70,000 per month, but not all states have implemented it — especially for local government workers and primary school teachers.
In 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that over 133 million Nigerians — representing 63% of the population — live in multidimensional poverty. The report highlighted severe deprivation in healthcare, sanitation, housing, and food security. Poverty levels were even worse in rural areas, with 72% affected compared to 42% in urban centres.
The same year, university lecturers and non-academic staff embarked on an eight-month strike demanding better welfare and more funding for higher education. Yet, PulseNets learnt that not much has changed in the funding of tertiary institutions or the salaries of varsity workers since then.
“Nigeria exists to care for greedy politicians” – Academic
Speaking to PulseNets, Professor Chidiebere Nwachukwu, a senior lecturer at the University of Nigeria, condemned the proposed pay increase.
“The politicians in Nigeria…it’s like Nigeria exists to care for the greedy politicians while the masses are being ignored. So those who do the bulk of the work are ignored — they are paid peanuts,” he said.
Nwachukwu added:
“I know the kind of debate that went into even increasing the minimum wage a few months ago, and here we are. Nigerians already are crying out against the kind of money that the politicians allocated to themselves in the name of wages and other allowances. And the civil servants who go to the same market as these overfed politicians are ignored.”
He warned that sidelining workers while prioritising politicians could trigger unrest:
“The President has access to a lot of funds. He’s entitled to so many allowances that may even be above his monthly salary. I do not think he needs more.
The people that need an increase in their salaries are those being ignored, so that we do not create a situation where one day we will face the revenge of the masses.”
The don told PulseNets that Nigerians have lost faith in government promises:
“In the past 10 years, we have not had a government that kept any promise at all. Nigerians do not rejoice when government officials make promises anymore. For many years, we’ve always been asked to be patient, to hope that things will get better, but things have always gotten worse.”
Wrong priorities – Economist
An economist, Dr. Samson Simon of ARKK Economics and Data Limited, also faulted the move, insisting political office holders already enjoy some of the best compensation packages in the world.
“I don’t think it’s reasonable in the sense that if you are looking at the emoluments that political office holders get, sometimes not necessarily the basic salary, other means of compensation have largely kept pace with inflation and devaluation,” he told PulseNets.
Simon stressed that lawmakers in particular are excessively compensated:
“For a federal lawmaker, senator, you’re talking about something in the region of N29 million on a monthly basis. What actually comes to him is in the region of N30 million a month. In a year, that comes to around $240,000. How many lawmakers in the world, in the richest countries, collect $240,000?”
According to him, such disparities only encourage people to join politics for wealth rather than service.
“Why do you pay a primary school teacher a tiny fraction of that and expect results? Any review of compensation should reflect the cost of living for all Nigerians, not just politicians. Advertising the welfare of politicians ahead of other Nigerians is simply wrong priority,” Simon added.
Also Read: President Tinubu Makes Fresh Appointment
“It’s a deception” – Legal voice
Civil rights lawyer Olu Omotayo, President of the Civil Rights Realisation and Advancement Network (CRRAN), described the proposal as outright deception.
“It’s just a deception because most public officers in this country are not living based on their salary. All those entitlements, everything is on government expense.
If they are traveling outside the country, there’s a travel allowance. And within the country, they get traveling allowance too. So salaries are not even the issue. The issue is how to cut the expenditure and allowances. Those are the loopholes the government is supposed to block, not deceiving us with salary increases.”
