LAGOS, Nigeria – Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, has revealed that his salary, along with those of his fellow ministers, amounts to N942,000 monthly after taxation, amidst growing calls for an increase in the N30,000 national minimum wage.
The ministers, he says, have no allowances except a travel duty allowance.
Dr Ngige disclosed this on Monday, May 1, 2023, during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“My salary is N942,000 a month. My salary with my PA — gross total after tax — my feeding, my transport, the transport of one PA, the salary of my gardener, my cook, they are all consolidated. After heavy taxation, they pay me N942,000,” he said.
He further stated, “Every minister you see, that is what it is; special advisers earn around that amount too. The allowances are not anything, we don’t have any allowances except if you travel. You can get duty tour allowance like every other public officer.”
Ngige informed that the travel allowance for ministers was recently reviewed along with that of permanent secretaries and others.
“It was reviewed to N100,000 for a minister, and I think ministers of states, N75,000; permanent secretaries, N70,000, and down the line. Level one, everybody else’s own was reviewed, not only our own,” he added.
As the country’s unemployment rate swelled to 33.3 percent in 2021, Ngige emphasized the crucial role of the private sector in creating jobs, arguing that it is not just the responsibility of the public sector. He also pointed to a decline in foreign direct investment as a factor contributing to the unemployment surge.
“The point there is that job creation is a cross-cutting thing; it is not only for the public sector to do,” Ngige stated. “Everybody has it in mind that it is the government that creates jobs: ‘If we don’t work in federal ministry or government agency, we have not got a job.’ No, the private sector is there.”
The minister insisted that industries within the private sector could generate jobs through various fields such as agriculture.
“It is not something for government alone. And I am telling you now, if the economy is not good, you will not have enough money in the system to ginger the system in such a way that jobs are created. That is the problem; foreign direct investment has gone down,” he added.
