country’s legislators, which ranked the
highest in the world, according to a new
study, has attracted sharp criticisms
from Nigerians across the country,
including economists and lawyers.
A report by The Economist magazine
revealed that Nigerian federal legislators
with a basic salary of $189,500 per
annum (N30.6m) were the highest paid
lawmakers in the world.
Quoting data from the International
Monetary Fund and The Economist
magazine of London, the study looked
at the lawmakers’ basic salary as a ratio
of the Gross Domestic Product per
person across countries of the world.
According to the report, the basic salary
(which excludes allowances) of a
Nigerian lawmaker is 116 times the
country’s GDP per person of $1,600.
The $189,500 earned annually by each
Nigerian legislator is estimated to be 52
per cent higher than what Kenya
legislators, who are the second highest
paid lawmakers, earned.
An Associate Professor of Economics at
the Ekiti State University, Dr. Abel Awe,
said the lawmakers’ jumbo salary was
indicative of the huge gap between the
poor and the rich as well as between the
ruler and the ruled.
He said it was unfortunate that the
country was running the costliest
democracy in the world.
Awe said, “This is part of the reason why
70 per cent of the nation’s budget is
allocated to re-current expenditure. We
are using a huge chunk of the nation’s
resources to service just less than 1,000
people in a country of over 160 million
people.
“We are running the costliest democracy
in the world. We can’t develop this way
when we spend huge money to service a
few people. How will you get money for
productive activities to expand the
economy? An average Nigerian cannot
access good medical care, good roads
and other basic things of life when the
legislators are smiling to the bank.
“This democracy is satanic. We have to
review this democracy. The cost of
maintaining the lawmakers is
outrageous. What they are taking is too
much.”
An economist, Mr. Henry Boyo, said the
study had shown clearly that the cost of
governance in Nigeria was very high.
Boyo, who noted that the cost of
governance was predicated on the
provisions of the Constitution, said it
was high time Nigerians cried against
the bloated cost of governance.
He said, “Our legislators’ actions or
salaries are actually accommodated by
the Constitution. In the past, we had
less money and we had enough as a
country. People are asking for a change
of Constitution.
“It is unfortunate that it is the people
who will do it that are the ones in
charge. The legislators will not vote
against themselves.”
However, the spokesman of the House
of Representatives, Mr. Zakari
Mohammed, dismissed the report as
incorrect.
He said, “Whatever is being written is
mere exaggeration and does not reflect
what is accurate. They fail to realise that
what we take as salaries are different
from what we use in running our offices.
“These are two different issues. Most
times, people just lump everything
together and claim that it is our monthly
salary; that is not correct. At the
appropriate time, we shall react, because
it is not just about the House but the
National Assembly. The National
Assembly will react at the right time.”
The report had suggested that a Nigerian
federal lawmaker earned $189,000 or
about N30m annually.
The magazine also published details of
the annual salaries of legislators in other
countries, some of which include Ghana,
$46,500; Indonesia, $65,800;
Thailand, $43,800; India, $11,200;
Italy, $182,000; Bangladesh,$4,000;
Israel, $114,800; Hong Kong,
$130,000; Japan, $149,700; and
Singapore, $154,000.
No comments:
Post a Comment