Buhari shocks ministers with austere

Buhari shocks ministers with austere
package
Buhari
•Cabinet members grumble, say ‘pittance’ can’t
pick bills
Barely three weeks in office, President
Muhammadu
Buhari has shocked Ministers with poor salaries
and
austere allowances.
He has also imposed dos and don’ts on the
ministers
including travel restrictions.
Most Ministers were said to be embarrassed by the
perks of office accruable to them in office.
The only leverage the Ministers will enjoy is the
privilege
of flying in a Business Class on trips.
These conditions of service for Ministers were
contained
in a letter given to them during the week by the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation,
Engr.
Babachir David Lawal.
The letter said: “I am pleased to inform you that
the
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has appointed you as a
Minister in the Government of the Federal Republic
of
Nigeria
“The appointment takes effect from 11th November,
2015 under the following Terms and Conditions of
Service as contained in “Certain Political, Public
and
Judicial Office Holders(Salaries and Allowances,
etc)
(Amendment ) Act 2008.”
“I am to add that your tenure terminates at the end
of
this Administration unless otherwise decided by
Mr.
President. Please accept my heartiest
congratulations
and best wishes on your appointment.”
The SGF’s letter gave the details of the perks which
the
ministers will enjoy in office as long as they last in
the
Federal Executive Council (FEC).
While the substantive minister will earn N2, 026,
400
Annual Basic Salary($8,514.285), Minister of State
is to
get N1.8million($7,563.025) per annum.
Other highlights of the conditions include: Estacode
Allowance($900 per diem); Duty Tour Allowance
(N35,000); Utilities Allowance(Telephone/
Electricity/
Water)–30% of Annual Basic Salary (N607,920);
Domestic Staff Allowance(75% -((N1,519,800) of
Annual
Basic Salary; Medical Facilities (in accordance with
NHIS
Policy); Special Assistant (To be provided in kind);
Security (To be provided in kind); Air Travel (By
Business
Class); Newspaper Allowance (15% of Annual Basic
Salary-N303,960).
The letter said: “As a Political Office Holder, you
must
obtain permission from Mr. President before you
travel
out of Abuja. If the trip is official, Ministers are
entitled
to a Duty Tour Allowance of N35,000 per diem.
However,
all private journeys will attract no Allowance.
“Severance Allowance of 300 %of Annual Basic
Salary
payable after full tenure of office with government.
The
allowance will be pro-rated after a minimum of two
years
tenure.
It added: “200 % of Annual Basic Salary
(N4,052,800) will
be paid to you to enable you to acquire
accommodation
of your choice in line with monetization policy.
“Furniture Allowance. 300 %(N6,079,200) of Annual
Basic Salary will be paid once in every four years.
The
allowance will be paid annually at the rate of 75%
(N1,519,800) of Annual Basic salary.
“Motor Vehicle Fuelling Maintenance Allowance.
75% of
Annual Basic Salary (N1,519,800) for the
maintenance of
your vehicle(s) as Government no longer provides
chauffeur driven vehicles to Political Office Holders/
Public Officers for house to office running.
“Annual Leave (30 calendar days for each leave
year or
calculated on pro-rata basis, with 10% of Annual
Basic
Salary(N202,640) as leave grant); Personal
Assistant
Allowance (25% of Annual Basic salary to enable
you to
employ a Personal Assistant of your choice).”
Investigation however revealed that some of the
ministers were uncomfortable with the salary and
allowance package because it might not be able to
pick
their bills.
The package has caused rumbles in the cabinet
because
while Nigerian ministers earn $8, 514.28 Per
Annum
(N2,026,400), their counterparts in Ghana are on
$50,000 (N11,900,000) and those in South Africa
(the
highest paying in the continent) were said to be
taking
home about $302,521 per annum.
A reliable source said: “Most ministers have been
sad
since they received their letters of appointment
because
the salary and allowance package was a far cry
from
where they were coming from. We hope that
ministers
will eventually not steal if they have to serve this
nation
on hungry stomach.
“We have ministers in this government who left
high-net
worth job of $10,000 to $20,000 per month, how
will
they settle their bills? Some ministers have headed
corporate. You can imagine a minister managing
about
$3billion portfolio now getting $8,521 per Annum.
“Some ministers have children in Ivy League
universities
where they are paying as much as $40,000 to
$60,000
per annum. How will they be able to cope to meet
up
with their responsibilities?”
As at press time, it was unclear if the ministers had
made representation to the president or not.
“Curiously, we have some Executive Secretaries,
Directors-General and Group Managing Directors
of
parastatals like NNPC, PPMC, NCC, NDIC, PEF,
PPPRA,
DPR, NERC, NIGCOMSAT, and others who will be
earning
more than their ministers. I think the system is
distorted
somehow.”
Another source added: “To earn commensurate
salaries
and allowances, the president can explore foreign
donors’ basket for payment of ministers. Or else, it
will
be difficult to get the best from this team.
By “Alternatively, there might be scientific
corruption in
Buhari’s cabinet. This is the type of corruption we
call
‘chop and clean mouth.’