Ministers, aides’ allowances surpass basic pay six times

Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Mr. Elias Mbam

Lawmakers are not the only political and public office holders whose allowances far outstrip their salaries,Saturday PUNCH can authoritatively reveal.

Investigation by our correspondent shows that ministers and presidential aides are also entitled to allowances more than six times higher than their annual salaries.

Analysis by our correspondent on Thursday showed that each minister is entitled to 15 types of allowances. Each presidential aide is also entitled to 15 allowances.

The annual allowances of each minister that are monetised is N12,678,764 as against an annual salary of N2,026,400 while monetised allowances of each presidential aide is N12,142,968.75 as against an annual salary of N1,942,875.

Ministers and presidential aides receive similar allowances. These include regular and irregular allowances. The regular allowances are those which values are paid on monthly basis and include motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance, special assistant, and personal assistant.

Others are domestic workers, entertainment, utilities, security and newspapers/periodical allowances.

The irregular allowances are those that are paid at periods other than monthly and range from annual payments to once in four years. Some others are paid whenever they occur irrespective of the period and how many times they occur.

These irregular allowances include accommodation, furniture, duty tour, estacode, medical, severance/gratuity and leave.

The allowances are specified in the remuneration package of political, public and judicial office holders prepared by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission and passed into law in 2007 by the National Assembly.

The allowances are calculated as percentages of the annual salaries. While some are more than 100 per cent of the salaries, others are much lower than 100 per cent.

For a minister, the motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance is 75 per cent of the annual salary. Personal assistant is 25 per cent; domestic staff, 75 per cent; entertainment, 45 per cent; utilities, 30 per cent; newspapers/periodicals, 15 per cent.

Accommodation is 200 per cent; furniture, 300 per cent; severance/gratuity, 300 per cent and leave allowance, 10 per cent. The same percentages apply to the presidential aides.

In monetary terms, a minister gets N1,519,800 for motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance; N506,600 for personal assistant; N1,519,800 for domestic staff; N911,880 for entertainment; N607,920 for utilities; and N303, 960 for newspapers/periodicals.

Accommodation allowance is paid once a year and amounts to N4, 052,800 for a minister. Furniture allowance which is paid once in four years is N6, 079,200. On an annual basis, this comes down to N1, 519,800. Severance/gratuity is paid at the conclusion of tenure and is N6, 079,200 and on an annual basis, it also comes down to N1, 519,800 for a tenure of four years.

The duty tour allowance of a minister is N35, 000 per night while the estacode is $900 per night. These two allowances have no fixed time for payment and therefore are paid when they occur. Medical, special assistant and security allowances are not paid in cash. They are provided for by the government.

A presidential aide gets N1, 457,156.25 for motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance; N485, 718.75 for personal assistant; N1, 457,156.25 for domestic staff; N874, 293.75 for entertainment; N582, 862.50 for utilities; and N291, 431.25 for newspapers/periodicals.

For a presidential aide, accommodation is also paid once a year and amounts to N3, 885,750. Furniture allowance which is paid once in four years is N5, 828,625. On an annual basis, this comes down to N1, 457,156.25.

Severance/gratuity is paid at the conclusion of the tenure and is N5, 828,625 and on an annual basis also comes down to N1, 457,156.25. A tenure of four years is assumed.

The duty tour allowance of a presidential aide is N25, 000 per night while the estacode is $800 per night. Just like for the minister, these two allowances have no fixed time for payment and therefore are paid when they occur.

Medical, special assistant and security allowances are also not paid in cash. They are provided for by the government.

In theory, the minister is entitled to a motor vehicle loan of N8, 105,600 while a presidential aide is entitled to a vehicle loan of N7, 771,500. This loan is repayable before the expiration of the tenure.

This is because under the monetisation policy of the government, public officials are not entitled to vehicle as it has been monetised.

The fact, however, is that they have several official vehicles and drivers at their disposal and do not have to resort to taking the motor vehicle loan except they need the money for other needs.

There are also other categories of public office holders that are placed on the same scale of salary and allowances with ministers. These are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Head of Service and Chairmen of Constitutional Bodies.

Source: Saturday Punch