Nigerians React As FG Weighs Salary Upgrade For President And Political Appointees

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has announced plans to review the salaries of political office holders in Nigeria.

This was revealed during a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, August 18, by the Commission’s Chairman, Mohammed Shehu.

Shehu disclosed that President Bola Tinubu currently earns ₦1.5 million monthly, while ministers take home less than ₦1 million — figures that have remained unchanged since 2008.

“You are paying the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ₦1.5 million a month in a country of over 200 million people. Everybody believes it is a joke,” Shehu remarked.

He added:

“You cannot pay a minister less than ₦1 million per month since 2008 and expect him to put in his best without necessarily engaging in other things. You pay either a CBN governor or a DG ten times more than the President. Or twenty times higher than the Attorney-General of the Federation. That is simply not right.”

However, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has opposed the move, describing it as insensitive to Nigeria’s worsening inequality and dismissing it as a disregard for the hidden perks that already inflate political earnings.

Shehu clarified that the Commission is not responsible for fixing the minimum wage of civil servants, but is constitutionally mandated to determine the salaries of political, judicial, and legislative office holders.

“We are strictly restricted to political office holders, governors, senators, legislators, ministers, DGs, and other people,” he explained, stressing that fair pay was necessary despite public disapproval.

“It’s about time people like you and others supported the Commission to come up with reasonable living salaries for ministers, DGs, and the President,” he urged.

Beyond salaries, Shehu revealed that the RMAFC had also begun reviewing Nigeria’s vertical revenue-sharing formula, which determines how federally collected revenues are distributed among the three tiers of government.

The current formula, unchanged since 1992, allocates:

• 52.68% to the Federal Government,

• 26.72% to states, and

• 20.60% to local governments.

An additional 4.18% is earmarked for special funds: 1% each for the Federal Capital Territory and ecological fund, 1.68% for the natural resources development fund, and 0.5% for stabilisation.

Shehu explained that evolving economic realities and new constitutional amendments had increased the fiscal responsibilities of states, making a review inevitable.

“The situation has made it essential to re-evaluate the structure of fiscal federalism in order to foster economic growth in individual states, enable them to become less dependent on the centre, and ensure equity, responsiveness, and sustainability,” he noted.

He recalled that past efforts to reform the formula failed. In 2022, under former Chairman Elias Mbam, the Commission recommended:

• 45.17% for the Federal Government,

• 29.79% for states, and

• 21.04% for local governments.

The proposal was never implemented by the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

The revenue-sharing formula has long been contentious, dating back to Nigeria’s independence in 1960. It defines how much revenue accrues to each level of government, how much is retained in the regions where it is generated, and what goes to revenue-collecting agencies.

The existing formula was designed during Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidency, and although calls for reform have persisted, political resistance — particularly fears of the Federal Government losing its large share of the federation account — has stalled implementation.

Notably, in 2013, the RMAFC conducted nationwide consultations across all 36 states in a bid to review the formula, but the process was never concluded.