 |
| Elias Mbam RMAFC Chairman |
Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) Mr. Elias Mbam, has disclosed that the Commission had already started the process of trimming down the remunerations of public officials to reflect the current economic realities of the nation.
The RMAFC Chairman debunked claims that some federal lawmakers received N1 million monthly pay.
According to him, “What we read on the pages of newspapers is not known to the commission because there is no member of the National Assembly, based on what we determined, who earns up to N1 million per month.
“Presently, we are reviewing the subsisting remuneration packages and it is going to reflect the socio-economic realities of today. We expect that before the end of next month, it will be ready." he said.
“When I talk of packages, the responsibility of the commission is to determine the remuneration for political office holders, both elected and appointed, from the national level to the local government level."
Speaking about the National Assembly members whose body language had previously shown they might not support the cut in their pay, the RMAFC boss said it would be a total review and they do not have a choice.
“Of course, National Assembly members are elected. It will include them, it will include the judiciary, it will include the state legislature, executive and of course, the local government will be included.
“They do not have a choice. " he further continued. "We are guided by the constitution and we are going to be guided by such laws that are provided for in the constitution and the oath they swore to obey the laws of the country.”
Recounting the challenges of the commission, he said “One of the challenges is that the commission is not properly funded and we are saying that we expect that the commission should be one of the agencies of government that should have financial autonomy.
“The best way to do that is to include it as one of the agencies that will benefit from first line charge.
“The second is to give the commission the power of enforcement. They should review the Act establishing the commission so that it can have power of enforcement and sanctions on any of the defaulting MDAs.” he said.
Add your comments here.