The Nigerian government is considering raising the salaries of political office holders, sparking outrage from labour unions and citizens who argue that politicians already enjoy hidden perks while ordinary Nigerians suffer under inflation and inequality.
By Nij Martin
Nigeria’s economic realities are harsh for ordinary citizens, but the federal government is now considering a controversial move: raising the salaries of political office holders according to a Punch Newspaper report. At a press briefing in Abuja, the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Mohammed Shehu, revealed that the pay of politicians and top government officials may soon be reviewed upward.
According to Shehu, President Bola Tinubu currently earns N1.5m 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,” he said.
He argued that the discrepancy between what political leaders earn and what heads of agencies or regulators take home was “not right.” “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,” he added.
The RMAFC chairman defended the planned review as necessary to reflect current realities and ensure that public officials are adequately motivated. He stressed that the commission is constitutionally mandated to determine the salaries of political, judicial, and legislative office holders, not civil servants or public sector workers.
But the proposal has been met with sharp criticism from organised labour. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) rejected the idea, calling it insensitive and unfair at a time when most Nigerians are grappling with high living costs and stagnant wages.
“The President’s salary may be about N1.5m a month, but when allowances are added, the total package can exceed N100 million,” a top NLC official told Punch. “Allowances for medical care, housing, digital services, internet access, security, travel, and even COVID-related expenses are all buried in the system. If the government can publish the president’s salary, then it should also publish these allowances, because that is where the true burden lies.”
The NLC insisted that the real issue is not the official salary figures but the hidden perks that inflate the true cost of governance. “This inequality has destroyed the middle class and pushed millions into poverty, leaving citizens frustrated and disillusioned,” the labour leader warned.
Indeed, the numbers highlight the contrast. Senators and House members are said to earn up to N30m monthly in salaries and allowances, while civil servants live on a minimum wage of N70,000. A university professor, despite decades of service, earns less than N400,000 monthly.
Critics argue that raising politicians’ salaries while inflation hovers around 21.88 per cent only widens the inequality gap. Nigerians are still struggling with food inflation at 22.74 per cent year-on-year, while unemployment and underemployment remain high. Many view the proposal as tone-deaf and disconnected from the daily struggles of citizens.
For labour unions, the government’s priority should not be raising salaries for political leaders but cutting the cost of governance. Billions spent on foreign trips, overseas medical care, and inflated allowances could be redirected to fixing hospitals, improving education, and creating jobs. “Good leadership requires sensitivity to the people’s plight. If politicians continue to prioritise themselves over the nation, this country risks imploding,” an NLC executive cautioned.
While the RMAFC chairman has linked the salary review to fairness and responsibility, public outrage highlights a larger problem: trust in governance. Nigerians often suspect that political elites are more concerned with self-preservation than public service. Against the backdrop of poverty, joblessness, and dwindling revenues, the optics of a pay rise for politicians are not only troubling but potentially explosive.
The debate may not end soon. If history is any guide, attempts to review Nigeria’s revenue-sharing formula and salary structures are often stalled by political resistance and public outcry. Yet, the larger question remains: in a nation where citizens struggle to meet basic needs, can a government justify raising the pay of its political leaders?