Nigeria’s Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has signalled plans to raise the salaries of political office holders, describing current pay as “inadequate, unrealistic, and outdated” given rising responsibilities and economic pressures.
At a press briefing in Abuja, the commission’s chairman, Mohammed Shehu, disclosed that President Bola Tinubu earns N1.5m (£760) a month, while ministers take home less than N1m—pay levels unchanged since 2008. “You are paying the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria N1.5m a month, with a population of over 200 million people. Everybody believes that it is a joke,” Shehu said.
He argued that senior agency heads and central bank officials often earn ten to twenty times more than cabinet ministers, calling the disparity “absolutely not right.”
But the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) swiftly rejected the proposal, accusing the government of ignoring inequality while politicians enjoy lavish allowances. “The president’s salary may be about N1.5m a month, but when allowances are added, the total package can exceed N100m,” one senior NLC official told reporters, citing perks for travel, housing, healthcare, and security.
The row over pay comes as ordinary Nigerians struggle with soaring living costs despite headline inflation easing to 21.88% in July. Food prices remain stubbornly high, deepening hardship for workers earning the minimum wage of N70,000 a month.
Shehu insisted the commission was constitutionally empowered to set salaries for political, judicial, and legislative officers, not civil servants. He also announced that RMAFC had begun a long-delayed review of Nigeria’s revenue-sharing formula, which has not been updated since 1992 and has long been criticised as inequitable.
The review will involve consultations with the presidency, parliament, state governors, local governments, and civil society, Shehu said, promising a “transparent, inclusive, and data-driven” process.
Labour leaders, however, accused politicians of prioritising themselves over citizens. “This inequality has destroyed the middle class and pushed millions into poverty,” the NLC warned. “If leaders continue to live in luxury while people suffer, this country risks imploding.”
