Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has accused federal lawmakers of acting unconstitutionally by deciding their own emoluments at the country’s expense.
Mr Obasanjo, who spoke on Monday, noted that the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission should be responsible for prescribing the salaries of elected officials.
“All elected people, by our constitution, their emolument is supposed to be fixed by the revenue mobilisation commission, but our lawmakers set that aside, and they make laws and put any emolument for themselves,” stated the former president.
“Even if that is constitutional, it is not moral and, of course, it is neither constitutional nor moral,” the former Nigerian president said while delivering his speech at the 60th-anniversary celebration of legal icon Afe Babalola held in Ado Ekiti.
The 1999 Nigerian Constitution, under paragraph 32 (a-e), part 1 of the Third Schedule, the RMAFC is saddled with determining the remuneration appropriate for political office holders such as legislators, president, vice-president, governors, ministers, special advisers, among others as mentioned in section 84 and 124 of the legal document.
Mr Obasanjo, however, said many aspects of the Nigerian Constitution, mostly the Federal Character had been jettisoned, stressing it portends great danger for the country.
He added, “The point in Nigeria which I have seen and which I can attest to is most of the people who are supposed to be operationalising or managing and seeing the constitution and democracy move forward, they are actually the ones who undermine the constitution.”
