Former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Joe Abah.

Former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Dr Joe Abah, has criticised the proposed review of salaries for political office holders, describing the move as poorly timed and insensitive given Nigeria’s current economic realities.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Monday, Abah argued that although the idea of salary review might be valid, its execution at this moment was misplaced.

“It is often not enough that something is the right thing to do. Something could be the right thing to do, but if you do it in the wrong sequence, at the wrong time, and in the wrong way, you end up doing more harm than good. My thinking is that the timing is not right; the optics are not right,” he said.

Abah faulted the government’s fiscal approach, citing what he described as wasteful spending and the bloated size of President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet.
“The government has not demonstrated that it takes fiscal prudence seriously. We have the largest cabinet in Nigeria’s history. Every day, new agencies and commissions are created. I have always argued that for every new agency we create, we should close at least ten,” he noted.

He added that approving a pay rise for political office holders while the country struggles with economic hardship was unjustifiable.
“You cannot in good conscience announce an increase in the pay of political office holders when we already have about 50 ministers, countless assistants, special advisers, and technical aides. Nobody even knows the full numbers. It does not create the impression that this is the right thing to do at this time,” Abah said.

The former BPE boss also pointed to distortions in Nigeria’s public sector pay system, where workers at the same level sometimes earn different salaries. He stressed that such disparities must be addressed before considering any upward review for politicians, especially after the federal government recently approved a ₦70,000 minimum wage.

His remarks come amid confirmation from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) that it is reviewing the salaries of political office holders. The commission had described current earnings as “inadequate, unrealistic, and outdated”, noting that they have not been reviewed since 2008.

Similarly, the plan has drawn strong opposition from labour unions. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in a statement by its president, Joe Ajaero, condemned the move as “insensitive and unjust”, warning that it could spark social unrest.

“RMAFC should put on hold this exercise before it triggers a tsunami,” Ajaero cautioned. He argued that the review “will only succeed in deepening the growing inequality between civil servants and political office holders and further impoverish the generality of Nigerians, the majority of whom are already multi-dimensionally poor.”

READ MORE: https://eaglefm.ng/nlc-rejects-planned-salary-increase-for-political-office-holders-labels-move-insensitive/