The unholy secrecy of NASS members’ pay package – Part 2

Besides the obvious fact that even the figures presented are contradictory, they are also sketchy. RMAFC revealed the pay package for senators but was silent on that of the House of Representatives. Shehu Sani noted that RMAFC, which has the constitutional responsibility of fixing the lawmakers’ salary and allowances, lacks power to enforce compliance. The commission itself affirmed the claim, suggesting that what is recommended may not be what is enforced. The apprehension of Nigerians in this regard is reinforced by the fact that the National Assembly is the legislative arm of government that approves allocation of national resources in different ways.

Sadly, the fear of Nigerians has been confirmed. Can Nigerians believe RMAFC’s N1,063,860 when one of those collecting the money says he goes home with N21 million monthly? This is one of the reasons it is important for some serving lawmakers themselves to prove to the public that they are not hiding anything. It is shameful that this is happening at the topmost level of government. Where is the hope?

Nigerians have been suffering hardship caused by multifaceted and complex factors that contributed to economic challenges, poverty, and social inequality. The situation has become worse since last year when President Bola Tinubu removed subsidy on petrol that has serious economic implications. Essentially, since then, there has been high inflation rate, astronomical rise in the cost of living, foreign exchange rate volatility, unprecedented level of unemployment and worsening insecurity. The insecurity in the country, particularly in most of the northern states, has led to food scarcity as the farmers have been chased out of their farms by terrorists and other criminals. Besides, people cannot move or travel freely in many parts of the country for fear of being kidnapped, robbed and possibly killed, just as they cannot afford the high cost of transportation fuelled by constant hikes in the price of petrol. Today, millions of Nigerians find it extremely difficult to feed themselves and their families with the prohibitive prices of foodstuffs, unemployment, and abysmal fall in the value of the naira, among others.

Many parents are withdrawing their children from schools because of lack of money to sponsor them. A lot of Nigerians no longer go to hospitals for treatment of their ailments due to inability to afford the cost of medical services. The unemployment problem is getting worse by the day not only because the government rarely recruit new hands into the civil service or there is very low level of investment in the country to absorb millions of unemployed graduates, but also because of the exit of giant companies from Nigeria with thousands of their workers being thrown back into the already saturated labour market. It was reported in the media recently that more than 30,000 workers have been thrown into the labour market since 2020 following the exodus of some multinational companies from Nigeria between 2020 and the first half of 2024. When President Tinubu removed the subsidy in 2023, he was quite aware of the hardship it would cause, but he appealed to Nigerians to endure the pain for a while for his administration to tackle the challenges of the nation. He said subsidy removal would free money to fix the country. More than one year later, Nigerians cannot see the country being fixed. Hope that the nation will overcome its woes dims by the day. It is lamentation everywhere, which led to the recent 10-day nationwide protests against hunger in the land.

These are salient issues of governance that should worry members of the National Assembly in their law-making and oversight functions. Sadly, they are more fixated on humongous benefits they can award themselves, at the expense of less privileged Nigerians. Privileged citizens, including national lawmakers, are not allowing the nation’s money to be free for tackling the nation’s woes and mitigating the hardship suffered by the people. That cannot be democracy, as there is then no dividend for the masses, while commonwealth infrastructure remains decrepit.

Transparency in government is crucial in holding public officials accountable. For the stability of the Nigerian State, it is very important to ensure that there is openness and communication between the leaders and the led at every level of the government. Where this is lacking, there may be abuse of power and corruption.

The secrecy and controversies over the salary and allowances of the legislators should be investigated by the appropriate authorities and the findings made known to the people. They need it to know the character of those representing them in government as well as make the right political decisions now and in the future. RMAFC should be empowered to enforce compliance with what it fixes as salaries and allowances. Allocation of huge resources to a few privileged persons purporting to represent the masses is neither conscionable nor compatible with the economic adversity that most citizens are languishing in. Those who asked Nigerians to tighten their belts must do the same thing.  The commission should swing into action to verify whether what it fixed as salaries and allowances in other government offices are what are being paid. Nigeria should be rescued from the captivity of greedy and insensitive leaders.

Concluded.