National assembly know it’s ‘immoral’ to fix their allowances, salaries – Obasanjo
Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said members of the National Assembly know it is unlawful and immoral to fix their own salaries and allowances.
Obasanjo said this on Friday, when he hosted some members of the House of Representatives in Abeokuta, Ogun state.
The ex-president who is the first democratically elected president after Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999, said it is the duty of the Revenue Mobilsation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC) to determine what public officeholders earn.
“Look at your case, with all due respect,” Obasanjo said.
“You are not supposed to fix your salaries or your allowances; it is supposed to be done by the RMFAC, but you decide what you pay yourselves, the allowances that you give yourselves – newspaper allowances, pant allowances – you give yourself all sorts of things. With due respect, you know it is not right.
“It is not right for me to be the one to declare and determine what I pay myself. It is immoral, and then you are doing it.
“The senate is doing it, and in some cases, the executive gives you what you are not entitled to. You all got N200 million.”
The federal legislative arm of government is often criticised for the “huge pay” allocated to its members. However, the total remuneration the federal lawmakers receive every month remains shrouded in secrecy.
