Buhari, Osinbajo
Their decision was contained in a statement made available to journalists on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu.President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have announced their decision to take only 50 per cent of the salaries approved for them by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.
The President’s current annual remuneration as approved by RMAFC is put at N14,058,820.00.
With this development, Buhari will be earning N7m per year throughout his four-year tenure.
Shehu said the President’s decision to cut his salary by half had been conveyed to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation on Friday by the Permanent Secretary of the State House, Mr. Nebolisa Emodi.
“I write to forward the completed IPPIS registration form of Mr. President and to draw your kind attention to Mr. President’s directive that only 50 per cent of his salary be paid to him,” the presidential spokesman quoted Emodi as writing in the letter with reference number PRES/81/SGF/17.
Shehu said Osinbajo had similarly given up half of his official remuneration.
He however did not disclose the reason behind the decision in his statement.
But in a telephone interview with our correspondent, Shehu said Buhari, by his action, was sending a clear message to Nigerians on the need to make sacrifice for national development.
He said having done that for himself, the President is expecting other political office holders and indeed all Nigerians to borrow a leaf from him.
Shehu said, “That voluntary action of the President is pregnant with meaning.
“It is a message of sacrifice for national development.
“Since the President has done this for himself, he is expecting that others will join him in making sacrifices for their fatherland.”
Meanwhile, the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, commended the slash in the salaries by Buhari and Osinbajo, adding that the decision was a display of leadership by example.
Ahmed, who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, said he would consider measures to reduce the cost of governance in the state.
Akorede said, “While Governor Ahmed commends the President and the vice-president’s admirable display of leadership by example through cuts in their salaries, he is looking at other sustainable ways of cutting the cost of governance and freeing up funds for more pro-people programmes.”
But the Kogi State Governor, Capt Idris Wada (retd), said the decision on whether he would cut his salary or not had not been taken.
His Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Mr. Jacob Edi, said the governor supported genuine measures to cut down the cost of governance, adding that the state had already implemented measures that would plug government revenue leakages.