The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, has hinted at plans to review the salaries of political office holders in Nigeria, describing current earnings as inadequate, unrealistic, and outdated in the face of rising responsibilities and economic challenges.
At a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Shehu, disclosed that President Bola Tinubu presently 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,” Shehu said.
He added, “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.”
But the Nigeria Labour Congress kicked against the plans by the RMAFC to review upward the salaries of political office holders, saying the proposal ignores the country’s worsening inequality and the hidden perks that already inflate earnings in government.
At the press briefing in Abuja, the RMAFC boss stressed that the commission was not responsible for setting the minimum wage for civil servants or public sector workers, but was constitutionally mandated to determine the salaries of political, judicial, and legislative office holders.
“We are strictly restricted to political office holders, governors, senators, legislators, ministers, DGs, and other people,” he explained. Shehu also noted that despite public hostility towards pay increases for politicians, it was important to maintain realistic remuneration that reflected their responsibilities.
“It’s about time that people like you and others should support the commission to come up with reasonable living salaries for ministers, DGs, and the President,” he said.
Shehu also announced that RMAFC had begun a long-overdue review of Nigeria’s vertical revenue-sharing formula, which determines how federally collected revenues are shared among the federal, state, and local governments. The current formula, which has been in place since 1992, allocates 52.68 per cent to the Federal Government, 26.72 per cent to states, and 20.60 per cent to local governments.
A further 4.18 per cent is reserved for special funds: 1 per cent each for the Federal Capital Territory and ecological fund, 1.68 per cent for the natural resources development fund, and 0.5 per cent for stabilisation.
“In line with this constitutional responsibility and in response to the evolving socio-economic, political and fiscal realities of our nation, the Commission has resolved to initiate the process of reviewing the revenue allocation formula to reflect emerging socio-economic realities,” Shehu told reporters.
He explained that recent constitutional amendments had expanded the fiscal burden of state governments. “The situation has made it essential to re-evaluate the structure of fiscal federalism in order to foster economic growth in individual states, enabling them to become independent from the central government and ensuring equity, responsiveness, and sustainability,” he said.
Shehu recalled that previous efforts to adjust the formula were unsuccessful. The Commission had presented a report in 2022 under former Chairman Elias Mbam recommending 45.17 per cent for the Federal Government, 29.79 per cent for states, and 21.04 per cent for local governments.
However, the proposal was never implemented by the Muhammadu Buhari administration. The revenue sharing formula, which has remained a controversial subject in Nigeria even before independence in 1960, refers to the proportion of resources accruing to the federation that goes to each of the components of the nation.
It also defines the proportion of resources that must be retained in the territories where they are generated as well as what goes to the agencies of government that collect the revenues on behalf of the federation.
The current revenue formula was designed during the tenure of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo. However, there have been calls and attempts to change this formula to ensure equitable distribution of the accrued revenue.
The current plan to review the formula would not be the first time the RMAFC had undertaken to tinker with the country’s revenue-sharing arrangement. In 2013, the commission embarked on a nationwide consultation with the 36 states and met with notable figures with a plan to review the formula.
Investigation showed that the politics and the eventual consequence of the Federal Government losing its fat allocation of the federation account are responsible for the delay in completing the process for the implementation of the new revenue formula.
Former Chairman, Public Affairs and Communication Committee at RMAFC, Ambassador Zubairu Dada, had in a statement on December 19, 2013, said the draft new revenue formula was ready and would be forwarded to former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, in accordance with the constitution. It is the responsibility of the President to lay the new formula before the National Assembly for necessary legislation.
Dada said members of the commission unanimously adopted the draft report following a two-week retreat at Tinapa, Cross River State, where all the submissions, relevant documents, and inputs from stakeholders were analysed and considered.
The commissioners had converged from 23rd November to 7th December on Tinapa Business Resort and Hotel, Calabar, Cross River State Capital, where they held a two-week retreat to brainstorm on the Revenue Allocation Formula Draft Report.
Investigation shows that Jonathan did not make any attempt to table the draft revenue formula before the National Assembly before his tenure elapsed on May 29, 2015.
When Buhari assumed office on May 29, 2015, there was hope that the draft document would receive a fresh breath of life, given that many state governments, especially in the states controlled by the All Progressives Congress, had vigorously advocated for the adoption of a new formula to help the states meet their financial challenges.
Like Jonathan, Buhari also tactically declined to receive the new formula from RMAFC. Despite the fact that previous attempts to review the current formula have failed, the commission reaffirms its commitment to undertake a fresh review of the formula.
The current RMAFC chairman assured stakeholders that the ongoing review would be “inclusive, data-driven, and transparent. This review will involve consultations with the Presidency, National Assembly, state governors, ALGON, the judiciary, civil society organisations, the private sector, and development partners.”
Shehu added that with the new Act signed into law in April, the Commission now enjoys financial autonomy for the first time.
Labour kicks
Nigeria’s organised labour criticised the plan by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission to review upward the salaries of political office holders, saying the proposal ignores the country’s worsening inequality and the hidden perks that already inflate earnings in government.
The Nigeria Labour Congress pushed back, insisting that the real problem is not the official salary figures but the allowances and perks of office that remain hidden from public view.
“The President’s salary may be about N1.5m a month, but when allowances are added, the total package can exceed N100 million,” an NLC high-ranking official who did not want his name mentioned due to a lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, told DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS.
“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.”
Nigerian workers are still grappling with the high cost of living, making it difficult to survive on the minimum wage, even as inflation shows signs of easing.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that the country’s headline inflation rate fell for the fourth straight month in July 2025, moderating to 21.88 per cent from 22.22 per cent in June.
Food inflation remained a pressing concern at 22.74 per cent year-on-year, although this was significantly lower than the 39.53 per cent recorded in July 2024.
The union accused political leaders of living in luxury while millions of citizens sink deeper into poverty.
It cited claims that senators and House of Representatives members earn up to N30m monthly, while civil servants are paid a minimum wage of N70,000, and professors take home less than N400,000.
“This inequality has destroyed the middle class and pushed millions into poverty, leaving citizens frustrated and disillusioned,” the official stated.
The union said the cost of governance was being inflated by frequent foreign trips and overseas medical care for top officials, for which they still receive allowances. It argued that the billions spent on perks should instead go into equipping local hospitals, fixing schools, 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. And if that happens, even the elite will not have a country to fall back on,” the executive warned.
Meanwhile, speaking at the event, a renowned Professor of Finance & Capital Market, Professor Uche Uwaleke, insisted that any additional funds allocated to states must be ring-fenced for capital projects.
“Nothing stops us from also saying the extra money we want to push to states now, we can also ring-fence those funds so that when they go to those states, we are sure of what the funds are going into.
“Now that states take care of electricity, for example, they also have the mandate to go into electricity. That’s infrastructure. We can say, and railways, we can say the extra money should be for infrastructure funds,” Uwaleke argued.
He noted that the horizontal allocation formula — which governs how funds are shared between states and between local governments — should also be revised.
“Wouldn’t it make sense to reduce population from 30 per cent and shift it to social development effort? That speaks to efforts of sub-nationals in the area of health and education. That to me should be what should be driving the allocation, not just population,” he said.
The professor also suggested benchmarking Nigeria’s formula against other federal systems. “It is also important to benchmark what happens in similar federating units. We should look at Canada, Brazil, and India. What is the situation there? Let’s learn from international best practices,” he advised.
