President Muhammadu Buhari’s newly-appointed ministers are to earn same remuneration as those of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.
Although new packages prepared by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) were ratified at a recent retreat held for commissioners of the agency, they have to be endorsed by the Federal Executive Council, which will present the National Assembly as a bill for enactment as an Act of Parliament.
In June 2015, the RMAFC started the downward review of the existing salaries and allowances of political, public and judicial office holders over falling prices in the international oil market.
Presidency sources told Punch that the new ministers will be paid in accordance with the existing statute because the reviewed package was not yet ready.
In the current package, Babatunde Fashola, the minister of Power, Works and Housing, Rotimi Amaechi, the minister of Transport, Lai Mohammed, the minister of Information and Culture, and other senior ministers will get N4,052,800 as housing allowance.
Each of the ministers is also entitled to N6, 079,200 as furniture allowance, which is paid once in four years.
If any of the ministers desires, he or she is also entitled to N8,105,600 as motor vehicle allowance. However, the motor vehicle allowance is a loan repayable by the end of the tenure of the minister.
The annual basic salary of a substantive minister is N2,026,400 (N168,866:66 per month).
At the end of each month, each minister will receive motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance allowance of N1, 519,800 (annual value).
Each of the senior ministers is entitled to a payment of N1,519,800 for domestic staff, N911,880 annually – for entertainment, N607,920 – for utilities, N405,280 – for monitoring, N303,960 – for periodicals.
The summation of these annual allowances is N13,374, 240 for each minister excluding the optional vehicle allowance.
