Jumbo Pay • 1,383 earn N64b

Posted by admin Headlines Friday, July 29th, 2011

Talks about bloated governments in the nation notwithstanding, the federal and 36 state governments still operate a total cabinet volume of 1,411 members. Saturday Sun exclusive investigation has revealed that the nation would spend about N63, 992, 763, 808 to pay their salaries.

Figures we got from the Revenue Mobilisation Administration and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) show that a minister earns N650, 136.67 per month. That translates to N7, 801, 640. 04 per annum or N31, 206, 560.16 in the four-year tenure.

With about 40 ministers in President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet, the FG spends N1, 248, 262, 406.4 in the four years they will be in office only on salaries.

The president’s special advisers and others enjoy a package of a basic N1.942m in a year or a gross pay of N7, 091, 493.72 with a breakdown sum of N590, 957.81 total monthly salary, with the allowances.

That also implies that a special adviser earns N28, 365, 974. 88 in four years, and by extension, the 20 special advisers will take home N567, 319, 497.6 from FG’s coffers in four years.
The two class of FG cabinet members will take the Federal Government a total of N1, 815, 581, 904.
A national research revealed that there are about 668 commissioners in the 36 state governments. Or succinctly put, at the time the states would have constituted their cabinets, the nation will have this total number of commissioners.

Our figure is derived from an average arising from 25 states, where we got their specific number of commissioners. Twenty-four states we had with their accurate figure of commissioners, have a total of 464 commissioners. That figure gives an average of about 19 commissioners per state. With this number already from up to two thirds of the total states, it is accurate to say that all the states, at the time of constituting their cabinet, will have the same average. With 19 commissioners in a state, the 36 will have 684 commissioners.

Taking a cue from RMAFC figures, as it applies to government appointees, it’s believed each state commissioner earns an average of N500, 000 per month. This means a commissioner will take home N6million in a year or N24million for the four years of being in office. The amount brings the total for all the states to N16,032,000,000.

Also, a special adviser in the state earns about N400, 000 per month. Across the country, the number of special advisers, senior special advisers, special assistants and others is put at 455. With also our datum point of deriving an average for all the states, based on the available figure, each state will have about 18.2 advisers, approximately 19 at the final point. With that, the states will have a grand total of 655 advisers. Each of them will earn N5, 400, 000 per year or N21, 600, 000 in four years. For the 655 advisers in the states, the earning amounts to N14, 148, 000,000 only. The states will spend on the commissioners and advisers some N30, 180, 800.

When the state bill is added to the total salary of the federal cabinet members of N1, 815, 581, 904, the two tiers of government will part with N31, 996, 381,904 in four years of the tenure of this administration.

However, if the salary of the cabinet members will be computed from the month they assumed duty, there will be a little downward variation in the figure. But if we shall take that the non-regular allowances of the cabinet members – engagement bonus, severance allowance, car, house, medical, estacode, out of station, furniture etc are as much as the regular salaries, that means the spending on the team will be twice the figure we have here, and would be N63, 992, 763,808.

-Sunwp_posts