Ex-presidential candidate, Tope Fasua speaks on FG increasing president Tinubu’s salary by 114%

Tope Fasua, the presidential candidate of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP) in the 2019 election, has said both President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his vice, Kashim Shettima, don’t need a salary raise.

Speaking in an interview with Legit.ng on Tuesday, July 18, Fasua described the proposal as anti-people.

Recall that the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) had proposed to adjust the remuneration of President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and other political and judicial officeholders by 114 percent.

If that adjustment stands, Tinubu will earn far more than his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.

But reacting, Fasua accused the RMAFC of only being literally concerned about the upward review of income packages for judicial officers.

He explained to Legit.ng: “The plan to increase salary is a rubbish plan I must say. It is not what the people want to hear for now. However, I also understand that oftentimes, these guys who are in government have a way of protecting themselves first and helping themselves out before anybody else. I think that’s a natural thing. But they have to have a sense of optics. They have to have a sense of what is going on in the country.

“We must also continue to remind them that these things are not acceptable. Apart from that, it is all about knowing what is going on in the country, and you can’t continue to frustrate people.

“I understand that that policy was deliberately 'padded', because we know that the judicial officers are not well paid in Nigeria, judges and co. They now went to add presidents, vice-presidents. The vice-presidents and presidents are not asking for increase in salary. They don’t need it - that’s the truth. But they went and lumped them in together.

“So this issue of 114 shouldn’t come up because people are still suffering from the current policies and so on, and it’s not what we need right now.”