Wage Restructuring for Equity: A Memo On True Federalism -By Gurgur Japheth

Wage Restructuring for Equity: A Memo to El-Rufai Committee on True Federalism


I am a Member of the Public but since there is call for memoranda from citizens by the El-Rufai Committee on True Federalism, let me elect to draw the committees attention to the need to address the yawning gap between salaries of elected office holders and other workers and the need to tame the obvious excesses.
I have heard a governor complain of huge salary of civil servants with a comparative analysis of his and I make haste to state thus. In a Merit System, a Permanent Secretary should earn more than a Senator, however, it is not the case in Spoils System where people now become Permanent Secretaries on the prism on "Zoning". Yet it is no enough reason for the gargantuan disparity between legislators, executives on the one hand and civil servants on the other hand.
According to data obtained from CIA World Factbook, Nigeria has an estimated per capital income (purchasing power parity) of $2,400 in 2009 as against USA’s $46,400. This means that the average earning in the US is 19.33 times as much as in Nigerian.
With the reduced salary package, a Nigeria senator still get paid N11 million ($73,333) in regular salaries and allowances annually and N152m ($1.03m) in four (quarterly) allocation making a total of $1.11m plus irregular allowances like estacodes and duty tour allowances.
The Senate has allocated N1, 024,000,000 as quarterly allowance to its 10 principal officers, known collectively as the Senate leadership - Each of the eight other principal officers take home N78 million every three months or N26 million per month.
Besides, for this year, the Senate has voted N2.6 billion for local travel, N2.45 billion (foreign travel), N1.25 million (security), N2.28 billion (contingency), N750 million (guest houses for Mark and Ekweremadu), and N500 million (establishment of radio and television stations).
The Executive Branch of government
A Nigerian Minister is paid N31,915,800 (32 million) per year, comprising salary (2,026,400), and benefits plus allowances (N29,889,400), American secretary (N23,488,000); British Secretary (N29,736,000) German Minister (N30,287,667.20)."
A Nigeria Minister of State gets N30, 538,248 (salary N1, 957,580; allowances N28, 580,666) higher than those of a South African Minister (N7, 704,558);
Compare again to American secretary (N23, 488,000); British Secretary (N29, 736,000) German Minister (N30, 287,667.20)
A local government councillor in Nigeria earn over N1 million per month while a university professor, or a director in a ministry is paid peanuts as take home.
The salary review of political office holders till date revealed that 17,474 officials earned N1.12 trillion yearly of the N1.12 trillion about N94, 959,545,401.20 billion is spent on salaries and N1, 031,654,689,033.18 trillion goes to allowances annually.
While 16,540 out of the political officeholders, as revealed from the document emanating from the Presidency to the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) are expected to undergo a pay cut in line with former President Yar’adua’s proposal earlier in the year, this is yet to take effect.
The officers are: Federal Executive (472); Federal Legislature (1,152); Local Government Executive (3,096) and local government legislature (8,692).
According to the document, officers taken this large lump sum evidently, approximately 17,500 officials only constitute 0.014 per cent (less than a quarter of a percent) of Nigeria’s estimated 140 million people.
Again, it is common knowledge that the salaries of these officers amount to nothing compared to the juicy fringe benefits that accrue to them.
It could be recalled that ministers, advisers, legislators salaries were all jerked up in 2007 and 2008. While the members of National Assembly got 100% pay rise which would cost Nigerian tax payers N52.4 billion every year, and an additional N15.02 billion as multi-purpose allowances given to the lawmakers on quarterly basis, the package accruing to the federal executives had jumped by over 1,000 percent to N98 billion due to their allowances as compared N65.5 billion paid the federal executives during the last regime.
The last time Nigerian workers ever had an enhanced salary package was in 2000 when former President Olusegun Obasanjo announced the N5, 500 and N7, 500 minimum wages both for state and federal workers respectively. And N18,000 under President Umaru Musa Yar' Adua in 2009. This is 14years, no review or implementation to the latter.
In a Next newspaper news article entitled ‘An Assembly for looting’ written by Musikilu Mojeed with Elor Nkereuwem, the authors rightly claimed that each of the 360 members of the House of Representatives were getting N35 million in cash money in quarterly allocation while each of the 109 Senators pockets N48 million each. These allocations have however been slashed by 20% to N27 million ($180,000) and N38 million ($253,333) respectively due to the 20% reduction requested by the late president.
The cut has been a source of a major controversy in the House of Representatives in the past few days where members are agitating to jerk up the sum to N42m quarterly at a time when the government is lamenting being broke and when the already signed 2010 budget is being cut by as much as 40%. What a bunch of greedy inhuman lots! The discordance has caused members of the House to force the speaker, Dimeji Bankole to reduce his quarterly allowance from N140m ($933,333) to N100m ($666,667) or from an annual allowance of N560m ($3.73m) to N400m ($2.67m).
Comparison of the Salaries of Politicians vis-a-vis other professions in USA and Nigeria
The politicians’ salaries listed above might look big to you but if you look at what is obtainable in the society, you’ll surely get the drift. I’d like to compare the earning of these top political positions with those of surgeons in America.
According to ehow.com, several factors such as experience, employer, location, gender and degrees may affect the earnings of a heart surgeon. Salaries discussed here are median earnings from 2009.
• Degree: A cardiac surgeon with a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree will earn an average yearly salary of $292,774. If he has completed a Ph.D., however, the annual salary may rise to $400,000 on average.
It can be inferred from this that a surgeon earn as much as the president or even more. And in nearly all cases a surgeon earns more than the VP and other public office holders.
In the US, top attorneys in a top legal firm earn as much as $500,000 annually, a top journalist (like Christiane Amanpour) earns over a $1m, Wall street guys and top business executives earn $ millions in salaries, benefit, stock options etc. Top Sportsmen and Entertainers earn tens of $ million in salaries, endorsements, advertisements, profit sharing etc. Top CEOs also earn tens and in exceptional cases, hundreds of $ million in salaries, benefit, stock options and profit sharing.
If you consider the fact that many top politicians were also top earners before joining politics, you’d be able to understand the sacrifice intended.
The annual salary of the Surgeon General is about $190,000.
It’s a known fact Michelle Obama, the US first lady was earning much more as a hospital administrator in Chicago than her husband, President Barack Obama was earning as a US senator. According to the couple’s 2006 income tax return, her salary was $273,618 from the University of Chicago Hospitals as Vice President for Community and External Affairs, while her husband had a salary of $157,082 from the United States Senate.
In Nigeria, political offices are often seen as a get-rich-quick avenue because the legitimate salaries and benefits are enormous and are probably unobtainable elsewhere in the system. Another reason is that politicians can also meddle with the public funds with impunity. Candidly, public officers do not differentiate between public and private funds and this is probably the main cause of the do-or-die politics. All arms of government collaborate in the looting causing no checks and balances.
After the late former president Umaru Yar’Adua complained about the nation's dwindling revenues and that politicians were being overpaid and causing his government a financial stress, there was an approved reduced remunerative package for the politicians. Based on the this, each of the 107 senators (excluding the Senate President and his deputy) would be collecting N11 million ($73,333) in basic salaries and regular allowances every year while a member of the House of Representatives would get N9.9 million ($66,000). Previously, a senator was getting N17 million ($113,333) while a House member was collecting N14.99 million ($99,933).
The regular allowances are accommodation, car maintenance, domestic staff, personal assistant, entertainment, leave, utilities, newspaper/periodicals and constituency. These figures do not include non-regular allowances-- vehicle loan, furniture allowance, estacodes, and duty tour allowance and severance gratuity--which are paid separately to each legislator as they become due.
From a previous salary of about N10,000, a police constable now earns between N22,000 and N27,000 depending on his length of service and accommodation plan, while a sergeant’s pay has gone up from N15,000 to about N30,000. And from a pay slip of about N22,000, a Police inspector now earns at least N50,000 monthly.
What is the Salary of a journalist like Apiah Ephraims, for example, for the sort of of job he does?
A State Legislator takes home over N500k for doing exactly nothing.
In summary therefore, there is a compelling need to restructure the minimum wage and the current pay structure of politicians in the country in line with global realities.

Gurgur Japheth MP sends this memo from Gboko, Benue - Nigeria