RMAFC Commences Review of Remuneration of Political and Public Office Holders

• Cost of governance unsustainable – Mbam
• The RMAFC may have begun amplifying the voices of many Nigerians who have repeatedly called for a review of the remuneration of public officers

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has begun looking into the remuneration packages of political and public officers.

Chairman of the Commission, Elias Mbam stated this on Wednesday when he appeared before the House Committee on Finance in Abuja.

According to him, analysis carried out on 10 minerals showed the Federation was losing an estimated revenue of about ₦1.3 trillion annually.

Mbam also said the commission has started the process of reviewing the existing Revenue Allocation Formula, stating paucity of funds has delayed completion of the two reviews.

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He said preliminary works, including literature review, engagement with the major stakeholders and collection of relevant data had commenced.

He explained that the agency has recovered about ₦75 billion from its monitoring, verification and reconciliation exercises on revenue collections and remittances by Commercial Banks, Companies and agencies that collect/remit revenue to the Federation Account have helped to minimise leakages.

Mbam maintained that through the efforts of the Commission, an account for the solid minerals sector was opened with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) where proceeds from the sector were being paid into, adding: “it is important to note that before the intervention of the Commission, the Solid Minerals Sector never contributed to the Federation Account.

On the cost of governance, he said the cost of governance in Nigeria which was very high and has continued to be on the increase, saying “this is clearly unsustainable as no country can develop with such a high level of recurrent expenditure.

“Some of the reasons responsible for this include duplication of Agencies of Government with virtually similar functions and responsibilities, corruption, unlimited number of political appointments, wasteful spending; ghost workers syndrome, etc.

“Recommendations to ensure cost reduction include avoiding unnecessary duplications of agencies with similar functions, reduction in number of political appointees to the barest minimum as recommended in the commission’s remuneration package, strict compliance with approved remuneration packages of office holders, and ensuring prudent spending of government funds”.