Following the public outcry over huge salaries and allowances of members of the National Assembly, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a slash in salaries of elected and non-elected officials in the country. The Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) Director General, Elias Mbam, said on Tuesday that senators and members of the House of Representatives will earn less than N1 million by the end of next month. The new salary scale for elected and non-elected political officials, necessarily reflects the socio-economic realities of the country.
Senators currently earn 240 million naira per annum (20,000,000 naira per month) in salaries and allowances and members of the House of Representatives earn 204 million naira per annum (17,000,000 naira per month). The current minimum wage in the country is 216,000 naira per annum (18,000 per month).
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Some argue that considerable sum for earnings of lawmakers around the world serves as an estoppel against corruption. The more a lawmaker earns, the less likely s/he is to engage in acts of corruption and bribery.
A United States Senator receives $174,000 yearly as opposed to an average minimum wage earner’s $15,000. A member of the United Kingdom House of Lords basically earns £67,060 per annum as opposed to about £14,000. In Nigeria however, the difference between both earners are quite vast. A lawmaker’s monthly salary is a thousand times more than the minimum wage.
The infographic below shows basic salary earnings for lawmakers in different countries. Nigeria tops the list:(venturesafrica)
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