Power outages, costly petroleum products catalysts for increased poverty – Peter Obi
Peter Obi, flagbearer of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, has criticised the exorbitant cost of governance in Nigeria, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He highlighted that an average PhD holder would have to save for years to afford the N160 million SUVs driven by lawmakers.
Obi, in a series of posts shared on his X page on Friday, August 16, 2024, said the reckless spending by the government is the reason for the decline in the standards of the university education system.
The former Anambra state governor lamented that while a Grade 2 lecturer might earn just N150,000 per month, an average lawmaker takes home about N21 million monthly, revealing a stark disparity between the government’s prioritisation of education and its extravagant expenses.
Recall that former President Olusegun Obasanjo alleged that federal lawmakers now fix new salaries and allowances for themselves.
The Nigerian Senate quickly refuted his claims. Interestingly, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), in a statement, disclosed that each senator collects a monthly salary and allowances of the sum of N1.063 million; this further sparked a fresh debate in the polity.
Reacting to the controversy over lawmakers’ actual salaries, Obi tweeted: “If fortunate, one might be employed as a lecturer in Grade 2 with a monthly salary of around N150,000, often paid irregularly, totalling N1,800,000 annually. In stark contrast, our legislators, whose required educational qualification is merely a secondary school certificate, receive a monthly salary of N21 million, which is more than the 10 years’ salary of a PhD holder.
“This disparity is the root of the problem. Additionally, legislators are provided with SUVs worth N160 million from the public purse. For a PhD holder to afford such a vehicle, it would take over 85 years of saving every kobo earned. The solution lies in shifting our society from a consumption-driven mindset to a production-oriented approach, where hard work, innovation, and talent are valued and rewarded.”
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