The Federal Government may cut salaries of public office-holders and civil servants if the naira continues to appreciate against other currencies.
Our correspondent gathered that the cheery news about the steady appreciation of the Nigerian currency and the possibility of prices of goods dropping significantly was already making government to consider the possibility of reducing the salaries of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan and other public officers as well as federal workers.
Over the past few weeks, the naira has risen steadily against foreign currencies, particularly the dollar. The naira strengthened to N124.81 as at Wednesday from N126.30 as at August 28, 2007 on the interbank foreign exchange market.
Disclosing government’s thinking to our correspondent on Friday, an official of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Chief Emeka Wogu, said if the market value of the naira goes up in the market, there is also every possibility that workers’ emoluments would be pegged down.
Wogu, who is the chairman of the RMAFC’s Emolument and Monetisation Committee, said there was no way public officers and workers would be earning huge salaries if the prices of goods were plunging.
Wogu said it was wrong to assume that the commission only meets to discuss salary increase for workers, adding that the commission would meet as soon as possible, if the naira’s purchasing power rises significantly, to review the salary of government workers.
He said, “If the naira gets stronger, I can tell you that we will review the salaries of the civil servants downward, including that of the President. It is the bastardisation of the naira which actually happened in the mid-80s that led us to where we are now. Then, you could walk into any airline and get a ticket to the United States of America for N400. If we are able to get back to that level, then the salaries of all categories of workers will have to be looked into.”
Wogu also faulted the constitution of the Economic Management Team by President Yar’Adua without a representative from the commission. He said the omission could have been an oversight and called on the President to rectify it quickly.
He said since the commission monitors what accrues to the Federation Account, and is also involved in the distribution of monies to the three tiers of government, it was expedient for it to be represented in the Economic Team.
He said, “Since we must know what accrues to the Federation Account, then we are like policemen guarding that account. And based on the wealth of experience of the commission in the management of funds, then I think government must pick somebody from the commission to be a member of the Economic Team.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Labour Congress has said it will resist any attempt to reduce the salaries of workers, even if the naira appreciates. The NLC’s Secretary-General, Mr. John Odah, said organised labour had not seen anything to suggest that the naira would appreciate to a level that would necessitate reduction in salaries in the next 20 years.
Odah, who spoke on the telephone, said rather, public sector salaries were even low compared with the inflation rate in the country.
He said, “That is unimaginable. If it is hypothetical, yes. The fact is that we are even behind inflation when you compare the salaries of workers in this country. Wages are supposed to be at par with inflation in this country. There is nothing on the ground to suggest that such will happen in the next 20 years. In fact, it is unimaginable.”
Olusola Fabiyi
The Punch
Saturday, September 8, 2007
