The Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has asked state governments to stop the payment of arbitrary remunerations to public office holders at the state and local government levels.
Chairman of RMAFC, Dr. Mohammed Shehu, gave the directive in Abuja, yesterday, at the opening of a workshop on the role of the state executives and legislatures in implementing the commission’s recommendations on remuneration packages for political, public, and judicial office holders.
The affected offices include: the Governor; Deputy Governor, Auditor-General of a State, the Chairman and members of the State Civil Service Commission, the State Independent Electoral Commission, and the State Judicial Service Commission.
Others include the Speaker of the State House of Assembly and his Deputy; as well as Local Government Chairman and elected Councilors.
According to the RMAFC boss, the report of a monitoring exercise across the states showed that the provisions of Section 124 (1) of the 1999 Constitution were being breached.
It provides, “There shall be paid to the holders of the offices mentioned in this section such remuneration and salaries as may be prescribed by a House of Assembly, but not exceeding the amount as shall have been determined by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission”.
Shehu said that it was key for each state House of Assembly to enact laws on the remuneration of the affected office holders and such remunerations must not be above the recommended amount set by the RMAFC.
According to the chairman, “Whereas Remuneration Act was enacted at the federal level for the purpose of political, public and judicial office holders at that level and the Federal Capital Territory, most states across the country adopted the Commission’s recommendation as contained in its reports without the required legislative action or enactment of state laws.”
He declared that the actions of the state governments contravened relevant laws and must be halted.
