The Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Muhammadu Shehu, has appealed to the 36 states’ Houses of Assembly to step-up efforts on amendment of relevant laws to give room for upward review of remuneration packages for political, judicial and public officers
It was gathered that work by the State Houses of Assembly will allow for the commencement of implementation of the reviewed remuneration packages for political, public and judicial officers.
The RMAFC chairman, represented by the Federal Commissioner, Rakiya Tanko-Ayuba, an indigene of Kebbi State, presented the report to the governor during a courtesy visit at the Government House, Birnin Kebbi.
Shehu said the move was in line with the provision of Paragraph 32(d) of Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Government (as amended).
He said, “It empowers the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission to determine the remuneration appropriate for political office holders, including the President, Vice President, Governors, Deputy Governors, Ministers, Commissioners, Special Advisers, Legislators and the holders of the offices mentioned in Sections 84 and 124 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Shehu said the last review of the remuneration was carried out in 2007, which culminated in the Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2008.
“16 years after the last review, it is imperative that the Remuneration Packages for the categories of the office holders mentioned in relevant Sections of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) should be reviewed.
“Pursuant to the above, Your Excellency may please recall that on Wednesday, 1st February, 2023, the Commission held a one-day zonal public hearing on the review of the remuneration package simultaneously in all the six (6) geo-political zones of the country.
“The aim of the exercise was to harvest inputs/ideas from a broad spectrum of stakeholders,” he said.
According to the chairman, the commission has reviewed the remuneration packages as contained in these reports based on a combination of subjective and objective criteria.
“The subjective criteria reflected the various expression by stakeholders through memoranda received, opinion expressed during the zonal public hearings and responses to questionnaires administered.
“The objectives of the criteria were obtained from analysis of macro-economic variables particularly the Consumer Price Index (CPI),” he noted
Source: NAN
