Salary, benefits of CBN Governor more than Buhari’s–RMAFC

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, has said that the severance packages of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, surpassed that of President Muhammadu Buhari. The Chairman RMAFC, Mr Mohammed Bello, said this in a Channels TV interview, on Friday, November 04, 2022. Bello, who didn’t mention the President’s salary or severance packages, however, stated that no public officers’ salaries should be higher than that of the President.

“I don’t believe that any public officer, whether of CBN or other agencies, should have a package higher than that of the President”. He added that, “I think this is not good for Nigeria, the President is the President, and there has to be a way where these things are adequately harmonised. In a manner, some chief executives will not get a salary higher than that of the President or governors.”

When asked if the severance packages and salaries of some agency’s chief executives are unconstitutional, he said it is not. However, he said there is a need to harmonise the salary structures of all public officers. According to him, “The law didn’t necessarily say that these things are wrong, but what we are doing now is that, this multiple salary structures which are more like a duplication of responsibility, we will try to harmonise them based on the law because the CBN Governor or his Deputy, those are political appointments that must be captured by the Commission. The salaries of Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Executive Vice Chairman of National Agency for Science and Engineering, NASENI, Boss of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL and other big agencies, must not be more than that of the President”, he stated. 

Meanwhile the RMAFC commenced plans to review the salaries of political officer holders. The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission(RMAFC) said it has concluded arrangements to review their remuneration. A statement from the RMAFC said the Chairman of the Commission, Mohammed Bello Shehu gave the assurance when he paid a courtesy visit to the Chairman, Nigerian Governors Forum, Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto in his office in Abuja. Mohammed Bello stated that paragraph 32(D) of part 1 to the third schedule of 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, empowers the Commission to determine the remuneration appropriate to political, public and judicial office holders in the country. He informed Tambuwal that the last time the remuneration review for these categories of Nigerians “was carried out was 2008 which makes it even over due for review”.