The Federal Government has said that it has started the review of emoluments of political office holders and judicial staff.
This is coming at a time when there is a lot of agitation against the huge allowances that political office holders especially the Federal legislators are paid at the expense of other government workers.
This disclosure was made by the Chairman of Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Chief Elias Mbam, on Saturday, at Amagu community in Ikwo local government area of Ebonyi State, at the 7th Ofala festival and 30th anniversary of the coronation of the traditional ruler, saying the commission had begun reviewing their emoluments.
Mbam told newsmen that a process to review the remuneration of political and judicial office holders was in progress, noting that the commission was saddled with the responsibility, hence it would soon conduct a public hearing on the issue, to allow the citizens to contribute to the process.
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What the RMAFC Chairman is saying
Mbam in his statement said, “One of the major responsibilities of our commission is to determine remunerations appropriate for political and judicial officeholders. In doing that, the financial situation of the country, at any giving time, is taken into consideration, including inflation and the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), among others.
The commission being conscious that a lot has happened since the last review, has commenced the process of another review to reflect the changing realities. We have progressed and we believe that before the end of 2021 something concrete will happen,” he said.
While not confirming whether their salaries would be reviewed upwards or downwards, the RMAFC Chairman said, “It is a process and the process at the end determines what it will be; when we go through the process, if it comes out to increase, we increase, if it decreases we do it.’’
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Mbam, however, encouraged Nigerians to participate in the review, noting that there would be public hearings and invitations for memoranda from members of the public, including institutions under the three tiers of government.
The RMAFC boss, who also spoke on the diversification of Nigeria’s economy, noted that the solid minerals sector had been contributing immensely to the economy since his assumption of duty as chairman of the commission following the sensitization and advocacy campaigns to all tiers of government, to encourage revenue diversification.
Bottom line
The review of the emoluments of political office holders and judicial staffs would help address the concerns of Nigerians and various interest groups who feel that these political office holders are overpaid especially in this period of economic and revenue challenges.
It would also address their quest for better remuneration for Judges in line with the volume of work they do and also to discourage corruption in the Judiciary.
I think Nigeria is the cause of this by increasing covid 19 cases everyday when we know that their is nothing like covid 19 in Nigeria
Y won’t UAE Be afraid of while we are busy faking sickness that never exist in Nigeria