Shehu Sani told FG to focus on raising the pay of workers who will feel the brunt of subsidy removal the most
By Kehinde Okeowo
Human rights activist and former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has asked the Federal Government of Nigeria to look into raising the minimum wage of poor workers in the country first before increasing its own.
He gave the advice via a post on his social media page on Wednesday, June 21, warning that the focus should be on the downtrodden and not the elites.
TheNiche had earlier reported that The Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), an agency saddled with the responsibility of determining the remuneration appropriate for political officeholders, recently proposed an increment in their salaries as a means of cushioning the effect of fuel subsidy removal.
The agency proposed a 114 per cent rise in pay for elected politicians, including the president, vice president, governors, deputy governors, ministers, commissioners, special advisers, legislators and the holders of the offices mentioned in Sections 84 and 124 of this Constitution.
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Reacting to the development, Shehu Sani took to social media to caution the Tinubu-led administration against using money removed from petrol subsidy on elected politicians, judiciary and public office holders first.
According to him, raising the minimum wage of poor workers who will feel the brunt of the hike in petrol the most, should be the immediate concern of the government.
Taking to his Twitter handle, Sani wrote, “Raising the minimum wage of poor workers should come before that of the elites holding public offices.
“With this 114% increase, a Federal Legislator will earn about N2million monthly salary and N25million monthly running costs for his office. Money derived from the removal of subsidy should be spent wisely.”
