Speaking today at the maiden edition of Ripples Nigeria dialogue in Lagos, former governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi said many Nigerians will stop shouting over what Nigerian Senators earn, if he reveals what Governors earn. The statement sent a lot of ripples through the Nigerian social media platforms.
Comparing Nigeria with the US, Obi spoke of the modesty in the earnings of public office holders in America.
“America’s GDP is way above Nigeria’s but an American senator earns $174,000 (about N53 million) a year and you can imagine what his Nigerian counterpart earns in a month,” he said.
“In America, governors earn according to their state. The governor of California is the highest paid in America, and he earns $192,000. The smallest state earns $70,000. But in Nigeria, I can tell you because I’ve been there, the cost of just keeping convoys alone is in millions. And when people ask me why am I saying these things, I tell them that even if we made mistakes yesterday, can’t we correct it today?”
Obi said while in power, he reduced the vehicles in his convoy to four, adding that he never used a bulletproof car.
“Politicians campaign based on problems that are on ground, so why do they get into office and starts complaining about the problems they met, what did they expect to meet? what did they promise to do during the campaign?”
The Dialogue was put together by the Ripples Centre for Data and Investigative Journalism, (RCDIJ) in partnership with Ripples Nigeria.