Charles Soludo, the governor of Anambra State, stated on Wednesday that in order to represent the current state of affairs in Nigeria, governors and other elected officials ought to be paid the minimum wage.
He said contrary to the flamboyant lifestyles portrayed by governors and elected officials, the country was facing a dire financial crisis.
The governor gave a speech at The Platform’s special edition, which was arranged by The Covenant Nation to encourage national growth.
He claims that government officials’ lavish lifestyles, which are supported at the expense of the country’s wealth, are the main cause of Nigeria’s economic problems.
“Let’s come clean and straight 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 said.
He continued, saying, “Let us not aggravate the impoverished further with our insensitivity. They are hungry and impatient. I agree with reverend father Mbaka in this instance that elected governors ought to receive the minimum wage as well. I agree that we should be paid that so that we can feel that as well.
“In Anambra, I have not received a kobo as salary since I assumed office. I have donated my 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.”
Soludo urged his colleagues and other elected officials to cut wasteful spending.
“That is why I proposed reinventing the new code of conduct for public officers. 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 states, most states have revenues amounting to less than N3,000 per resident, per month.
“It is from this shares per citizen that we are expected to provide all the infrastructure, debt service, pay salaries and pensions, build schools, and provide everything.
“For each of our wasteful spending, let’s be conscious of how many citizens share that we are squandering. “The society dies irrevocably the moment we lose this awareness of the public trust we bear,” he declared.
Published byEjoh Caleb
