SPN OPPOSES THE PLAN TO INCREASE SALARIES OF POLITICAL OFFICE HOLDERS!

Working People, Youth and Labour Must Organise to Defeat this Move, Reverse the Petrol Price and Other Anti-People Policies, and Begin Building a Genuine Political Alternative

The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) strongly condemns the plan by the Bola Tinubu government through the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to increase the salaries and allowances of political office holders. This plan is provocative, unjustifiable, and a glaring confirmation of the pro-capitalist character of the Tinubu-led government, which — like its predecessors — has consistently prioritized the  greed and interest of politicians and the capitalist elite over the needs, survival, and welfare of the working people.

At a time when millions of Nigerians are grappling with worsening poverty, skyrocketing inflation, mass unemployment, and the devastating impact of fuel subsidy removal and the naira devaluation, it is both insensitive and unthinkable for the government to even contemplate such a pay rise for politicians. This move will not only deepen inequality but also further heighten the desperation and fierce contestation for public office, which has been at the root of election violence, and rigging — features that have become all too common in Nigeria’s electoral process.

The claim by RMAFC that the current salaries of politicians are “inadequate, unrealistic, and outdated” is an insult to the Nigerian working people. Nothing could be further from the truth. The current jumbo salaries and allowances earned by politicians in the midst of mass misery cannot be described as inadequate. Nigerian politicians already live in obscene luxury, enjoying hidden perks, inflated allowances, and other privileges at the expense of the masses. Meanwhile, workers and the poor struggle to survive on a minimum wage of ₦70,000—less than $50—which is far below what many politicians casually spend on frivolities.

The SPN, therefore, strongly opposes any pay rise for politicians and insists that, instead of being increased, their salaries and allowances should be drastically reduced to those of civil servants. Such a step would go a long way to free up some funds that can be redirected towards social services like public education and health care.

In light of this, we call on the working people and youth to resist this latest act of inequity. Politicians cannot continue to enrich themselves while workers and ordinary people are left to suffer and die in poverty. For us in SPN, the path forward lies in united mass struggle, militant trade union action and the conscious building of a political alternative rooted in socialist policies. Anything less will only leave the majority at the mercy of a tiny, greedy elite determined to perpetuate exploitation and mass misery.

Therefore, we urge the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) not to turn a blind eye but to take immediate and decisive action by beginning mobilization of the Nigerian working people for a 24-hour warning general strike, nationwide  protests. This should be the first step in a mass struggle not only to defeat this latest anti-people move, but also to secure a reversal of the petrol price hike, and roll back all the other anti-poor policies of the Tinubu-led government. It is clear that no real improvement in the living standards of workers can be achieved so long as anti-poor policies such as the hike in the pump price of petrol and poor funding of social services like education, healthcare, water and sanitation remain in place. The reversal of these neoliberal attacks as well as agitation for living wage for workers must therefore form a central demand of the labour movement.

We equally hold that such a struggle should open the path toward a new political direction for the Nigerian working people. For decades, successive governments — military and civilian, PDP and APC — have pursued pro-capitalist policies that sacrifice the welfare of the majority at the altar of the rich few. The current regime is no different, and will only continue to worsen the condition s of life for workers, youth, and the poor. What is urgently needed is the building of an independent mass workers’ political party, armed with a socialist programme, to provide a genuine alternative to the anti-poor capitalist agenda. Only a socialist alternative, where public resources are democratically managed and deployed to meet the needs of the majority rather than looted by a few, can ensure lasting solutions to the crises of poverty, unemployment, inequality, and corruption

Bamigboye Abiodun (Abbey Trotsky)

Acting National Chairperson

Chinedu Bosah

National Secretary

E-mail: [email protected]