Governor of Anambra State, Charles Soludo, has said governors and other elected officials should start earning minimum wage.
Soludo said this on Wednesday at the special edition of The Platform, an event put together by The Covenant Nation.
Speaking at the event, Soludo said Nigeria has become impoverished because of the flamboyant lifestyles of government officials.
“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.
“The poor are hungry and impatient, let’s not annoy them more with our insensitivity.
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“In this case, I agree with reverend father Mbaka, who said elected governors should also earn minimum wage. 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 signaling, it is just the symbolism of this.”
Soludo called for a new code of conduct for public officeholders to enhance fiscal prudence.
“That is why I proposed reinventing the new code of conduct for public officers,” he said.
“For the federal government, the actual projecting 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.”
Soludo added that for each of the wasteful spending, they should be conscious about the fact citizen’s shares are being squandered.