Femi Falana Speaks on Proposed Salary Hike for Politicians -

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By Daniel Faith

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has rejected the proposed salary increase for political officeholders, describing it as a slap in the face of struggling Nigerians already battling inflation, subsidy removal, and a weakening naira.

Falana, speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Sunday, faulted the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) for planning to raise the salaries of the President, Vice President, governors, deputies, and lawmakers without addressing the plight of civil servants and ordinary citizens.

“RMFAC is not in a position to increase the salaries and allowances of public office holders without taking into consideration the fact that civil servants and other managers are bearing the brunt of the economic policies of the country,” Falana said.

“If you are going to have a review of salaries at all, it cannot be discriminatory. It has to be holistic, so that government will consider social inequality and income disparity in the country.”

The rights lawyer warned that the commission risked embarrassment by pushing for selective pay raises, while ignoring the “humongous salaries and allowances” enjoyed by federal lawmakers — many of which, he argued, fall outside RMAFC’s constitutional mandate.

He reminded the commission of a subsisting Federal High Court judgment, secured by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and other civil society groups, mandating a downward review of lawmakers’ pay in line with current economic realities.

“There are people in the National Assembly, particularly in the Senate, who are receiving humongous salaries and allowances not fixed by RMFAC. Section 70 of the Constitution imposes a duty on the commission to fix the salaries and allowances of all public officers. But that has not been done,” he added.

Falana stressed that in the face of the naira’s free fall, rising food prices, and dollarisation of the economy, any move to increase politicians’ pay without simultaneously cushioning the hardship of ordinary Nigerians would be counterproductive and unjust.

The salary hike proposal has already triggered heated debate across the country, with critics slamming it as tone-deaf governance at a time millions are sliding deeper into poverty.