Nigerians are outraged by the decision of Senators to reject a pay cut as recommended by the James Manager Committee on Finance.
The Senate suspended consideration of the committee report on Wednesday as members disagreed sharply on the recommendation that members’ salary and allowances be cut.
But reacting to the action of the Senators, some prominent opinion leaders expressed shock that the lawmakers are not showing concern for the state of the national economy and the well being of the generality of Nigerians.
First Republic Minister, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, likened the stance of the Senators to legalization of looting.
“I have always been critical of the outrageous and exorbitant allowances being collected by members of the National Assembly. As far as I am concerned, it is legalizing stealing and looting,” he told The Nation by phone.
He added: “though the reduction of their allowances may not have much effect on the economy, it is desirable that they reduce it in the interest of the country. It is highly ridiculous that a university professor who has spent a good part of his life contributing to the body of knowledge does not earn up to 20 percent of what these people are earning.
“The issue here is that I don’t know what they are doing there on full time basis and earning these bogus allowances. During our days in the First Republic, we worked part time.
“I think the solution to this problem lies in the executive. The president should not assent to any bills they present to him if they refuse to cut their allowances. If this is done and they go ahead to use two third majority to pass the bill into law, then it would be glaring that they are unpatriotic. Nigerians would then see that they out to achieve their selfish agenda and not there to serve the people.”
Constitutional lawyer, Professor Itse Sagay, branded the rejection of the pay cut as selfish .
“Members of the National Assembly have been consistent in their attitude of not being concerned about the interest of the country. They are only there to serve their own interests.
“There has been so much talk about their allowances and one should ordinarily expect them to do something about it.
“There are about six to seven items on their list of allowances that they should remove. For instance, the wardrobe allowance. As a man with a wife and children, is it not an embarrassment for me to be waiting for the government to clothe me?
“Their actions are tantamount to exploiting and squeezing blood out of the nation. As I have suggested before, we may need to have our National Assembly working on part time and paid allowances based on the number of times they sit as it was the case during the First Republic.
“The allowances they are collecting are unrealistic in a developing country like Nigeria. If we cannot have that done immediately, we can embark on it in the next political dispensation. It should be part of the campaign in the next election.”
Second Republic lawmaker, Mohammed Junaid, put the senators’ action down to a lack of the understanding of law.
“I am not surprised because the PDP members in the National Assembly have a perverted understanding of the law. Because the constitution allows them to take these allowances, they have always stood their ground that it should remain so.
“This is not right when you need to consider the larger interest of the country and the masses that voted for you. If you even look at what they are earning in relation to what they are collecting, you will agree that it is not worth it.
“It is unfortunate that in spite of the huge salaries and allowances they are collecting, they still are still corrupt.
“The solution, in my opinion is to reverse the aspect of the constitution that allows them to take all these allowances. The Revenue Allocation and Mobilization Commission should also be empowered to fix their salaries and allowances in relation to the reality of the economic situation of the country and their participation in the law making job they are saddled with.”
Former Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Abubakar Tsav, urged the senators to emulate the president and the vice president, and accept a pay cut.
“The truth is that these people are not there to serve Nigeria and the masses. They should follow the examples of the president and the vice president and slash their allowances and salaries.
“They should be considerate enough to look at the economic situation in the country without anybody pushing or mounting pressure on them to do that. The challenge here is that there is little anybody can do to compel them to accept a pay cut because this is democracy and everything would have to go through law making which is their primary occupation.
“You can’t amend the constitution without them and cannot make anything to be in force without going through them. The moment they are not prepared to have their salaries slashed, they would frustrate everything that is against their interest. They should be civilized enough to slash these allowances and if they would not do so, I would suggest that Nigerians should march to the National Assembly to compel them to do so. I think this is the only way to compel them to slash the huge allowances they have put up for themselves.”
The President of Aka Ikenga, an Igbo social political group, Chief Goddy Uwazurike,is of the view that Senators and others in public offices should follow the path of honour and slash their salaries.
“Members of the National Assembly need to cut their allowances. They know the relevant areas they need to cut and should go ahead to do so. Aside from the National Assembly, every public office holder in the country from top to the bottom should have their allowances slashed,” he said.
Several groups are threatening to storm the National Assembly to show their anger at the Senators.
The President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Comrade Shetimma Yerima, said it appears the Senators are not working for Nigerians.
His words: ”their refusal to accept pay cut shows they are not working for the interest of the nation. They are only working for their personal aggrandizement and that is regrettable.
“We would not hesitate to stage a protest at the National Assembly if they would not agree to slash their allowances. I would personally be in the forefront of such protest that is geared towards liberating our country from those who are bent on holding us to ransom.
“But before we do that, we would give them benefit of the doubt because we know that there are a few credible people in the two chambers who would be reasonable enough to consider the interest of the people and the nation above their personal and selfish interest.”
Also speaking, the President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth wing, Mazi Okechukwu Iziguzoro, called on the senators to cut their salaries in the interest of the country.
“They should be patriotic enough to cut their allowances in the interest of the country. It is crystal clear that the economy of the nation is in a shambles and it behoves every one of us, especially those holding public offices to make sacrifices in one way or the order to redeem our father land.
“This is an era of change and it is expected that the former ways of doing things because of selfish benefits should be jettisoned for the overall well being of the nation, the poor masses in particular.
“If they would not agree to cut their allowances, we would not hesitate to embark on protest to ensure they do that.”
