Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, yesterday, said the new revenue allocation formula would be ready for approval by December.
Engr. Elias Mbam, RMAFC, who disclosed this to newsmen, also said that no federal lawmaker in Nigeria earns more than N1 million per month.
Mbam, who was reacting to a report by The Economist that Nigerian legislators earn basic salary of $189,500 per annum (N30.6 million) each, making them the highest paid lawmakers in the world, said the claim was outrageous and totally false.
According to the report, the basic salary (which excludes allowances) of a Nigerian lawmaker is 116 times the country’s GDP per person of $1,600.
The magazine further alleged that the $189,500 earned annually by each Nigerian legislator was estimated to be 52 percent higher than what Kenyan legislators earned.
Kenyan legislators are the second highest paid lawmakers in the world.
He said: “This is an area that many Nigerians need to be properly informed about because I read the other day that their salaries were about N35 million.
“Certainly, that is not from here. There is no senator after all deduction that takes home more than N1 million a month as salary.
“If you compare it with what is obtainable elsewhere, you find out that one will not consider that too big.
“Look at how much a Permanent Secretary, chief executives and Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor are paid, and how much other establishments, even school professors are paid.
“Then compare it with what obtains in other countries. The problem is that most of the reports we receive, particularly in print media, say that they are paid much more than that.
“I have said repeatedly that if they receive more than what is approved by the Act, then the chief accounting officer should be held accountable, because the law is clear.”
On the new revenue allocation formula, Mbam said the commission would present the new plan as a recommended formula to President Goodluck Jonathan for consideration and afterwards it would be passed to the National Assembly to be approved as law.
He said: “We expect that by December, before the end of the year, we will present to Mr. President our recommendation of the formula on revenue sharing for onward transmission to the National Assembly for further discussion.
“We have progressed much. We have done several studies of fiscal matters. We have toured other federations to compare their fiscal arrangements and be able to get their experiences and use the experience as part of what we can apply in our own case.”
No comments:
Post a Comment