Barely two weeks after the nation’s teachers called off their one-month strike called to press for better pay for members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, the country’s lawmakers have been splashed with yet another salary increase.

The increment sees their basic salary jumping by more than 100%. Unlike the teachers who had to down tools for a whole month before authorities grudgingly upped their salary by 27.5%, the lawmakers’ is said to be a routine exercise to reflect the level of inflation in the economy.

Legislators in the three tiers of government have cause to smile as the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has increased their basic salaries and allowances by more than 100 per cent.

The political, public and judicial office holders must particularly be elated as they did not have to go on strike like public school teachers did recently before winning 27.5 per cent pay rise.
The RMAFC cited inflation among other reasons for the upward review of the public officers salaries.
A document on Remuneration Packages by the RMAFC for Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders in Nigeria stated that the review was a function of changes in the basic fundamentals of the Nigerian economy, external reserves, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), growth rate, rate of inflation and need for a living wage.

By the new increase which was backdated to last year, the annual basic salaries of legislators at the Federal, State and Local Government levels have gone up by more than 100 per cent thus: the basic salary of a Senator has increased from N993,697 to N2,484,242.50, while that of a member of the House of Representatives has been jerked up from previous annual salary of N794,084 to N1,985,212.50.
Similarly, a member of the State Assembly is now to earn N1,985,212.50 instead of N794,085 taken previously.

Also, the benefits and allowance for accommodation have been increased between 45 per cent and 200 per cent of their basic annual salary. The differential, the document said, was meant to address accommodation problems between less and most expensive cities in Nigeria.
Other allowances that were affected include, vehicle maintenance, which was increased from 30 per cent to 75 per cent; entertainment, from 10 per cent to 30 per cent and utility allowance from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

Also increased are: personal assistant, 25 per cent, wardrobe, 25 per cent, domestic staff, 75 per cent, recess allowance, 10 per cent, newspapers, 15 per cent and constituency allowance which is graded between 15 per cent and 250 per cent for legislators at Local Government, States and Federal Government levels.

In the same vein, furniture allowance is now 300 per cent of annual salary paid once in tenure at the commencement of duty. However, the severance gratuity after their tenure in office remains at 300 per cent while motor vehicle loan is 400 per cent repayable in six years.
It would be recalled that the last increase was done in 2000.