Still on legislators’ jumbo pay

THE huge salaries and allowances which Nigerian legislators earn is really infuriating Nigerians, especially at a time when things are hard economically for the majority of the citizens.

It is so unfortunate that Nigeria tops the whole world in the salaries and allowances it pays to its legislators, even in the light of the dwindling fortunes of the economy.

President Muhammadu Buhari should, therefore, make it one of his priorities to reduce the enormous cost of governance in the country, and the obvious place to start is with the legislators.

In the spirit of change, for which the nation massively voted last year, the President should work with the leadership of the National Assembly to agree on a new, more reasonable, less insane pay scale and allowances for our ‘honourables.’

It is funny that Nigeria’s federal legislators earn more than the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the Leader of the American Congress.

Also, our lawmakers earn more than the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, and the United States President, Barack Obama, and this is a nation where more than 80 per cent of the people live on less than one dollar a day; where university graduates can’t find jobs, and civil servants don’t get paid for several months.

It is important that the funds being used to service the legislature should be diverted to the people who have suffered enough over the years. Political office holders should not earn more than the civil servants.

• Balogun E. Funsho,

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