On Wednesday, Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo suggested that governors and other elected officials should earn the minimum wage to better reflect Nigeria’s current financial situation.
He made these remarks during a special edition of The Platform, an event organized by The Covenant Nation to promote national development.
Soludo highlighted the stark contrast between the extravagant lifestyles of government officials and Nigeria’s severe financial crisis.
He emphasized that these lifestyles are maintained at the nation’s expense, exacerbating the country’s economic troubles.
“Let’s be honest with Nigerians. Nigeria is very poor and broke, but the lifestyle of government and government officials does not show it, especially with the obscene flamboyance in public display,” Soludo stated.
He agreed with Reverend Father Mbaka’s suggestion that elected governors should earn the minimum wage to experience the struggles of the average Nigerian. “The poor are hungry and impatient; let’s not annoy them more with our insensitivity.
I agree with Reverend Father Mbaka that elected governors should also earn minimum wage. We should be paid that so we can feel the reality as well,” he said.
Soludo noted that he has not taken any salary since assuming office in Anambra, opting instead to donate his salary to the state. “It is symbolic.
It is not much. I think generally, the system is in denial. There must be some signalling, it is just the symbolism of this,” he added.
He urged his fellow officials to reduce wasteful spending and proposed a new code of conduct for public officers. Soludo pointed out the dire financial statistics: “For the federal government, the actual projected revenue comes to about N6,160 per Nigerian per month.
For the states, except Lagos and a few others, most states have revenues amounting to less than N3,000 per resident per month.”
He stressed that from these limited revenues, the government is expected to provide infrastructure, service debts, pay salaries and pensions, build schools, and deliver various public services.
“For each of our wasteful spending, let’s be conscious of how many citizens’ shares we are squandering. Once we lose this consciousness about the public trust we bear, the society dies irredeemably,” Soludo concluded.
