The Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Dr Mohammed Bello Shehu, has called on the Federal Government to implement the Stephen Orasonya report to ensure a better welfare package for Nigerian workers.
Part of the recommendations of the Orasonya report is the transfer of the Salaries and Wages Commission to the RMAFC.
Dr Shehu, speaking in Abuja, said it is unfortunate that whenever the RMAFC discusses reviewing the salaries of political officeholders, people raise objections, asking why a similar gesture should not be extended to other Nigerian workers.
He said, “It is not that the commission despises the Nigerian worker, but it is not our responsibility to take care of minimum wage and salaries of other workers, we are strictly restricted to political office holders, the President, governors, legislators, ministers, the Judiciary and others.
“We are asking that the Orasonya report should be implemented so that Salaries and Wages Commission can come back to RMAFC, and we will do justice to the Nigerian workers appropriately. We have to find the money to pay individuals a living wage.”
He also hinted at plans to review the salaries of political officeholders, describing current earnings as inadequate, unrealistic, and outdated in light of rising responsibilities and economic challenges.
The RMAFC chairman disclosed that President Bola Tinubu presently earns N1.5 million monthly, while ministers receive less than N1m — figures that have remained 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 added, “You cannot pay a minister less than N1m per month since 2008 and expect him to put in his best without necessarily being involved in some other things. You pay either a CBN governor or the DG ten times more than you pay the President. That is just not right. Or you pay him [the head of an agency] twenty times higher than the Attorney-General of the Federation. That is absolutely not right.”
The Stephen Oronsaye report, officially titled the “Report of the Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies,” was first submitted in 2012 and proposes merging, scrapping, subsuming, or relocating numerous agencies to reduce waste and improve efficiency. It also recommended significant reforms to the structure and operations of government bodies.
Despite its potential benefits, the report has faced delays and challenges in implementation due to various factors, including political considerations and concerns about potential job losses and economic impacts.
In 2024, under the present administration, the Federal Executive Council approved the full implementation of the report, leading to the inauguration of an implementation committee. To date, nothing has happened.
