49 of 127 Buhari, Osinbajo’s aides get N2.48bn in four years

A special report by Punch, alleges that 49 out of 127 of President Buhari and Osinbajo’s aides got N2.48bn in four years of the government.

It was learnt that the salaries of the 49 President Buhari and Osinbajo’s aides who got N2.48bn in four years of the government, was captured by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission. Some of them work with the President’s wife, Aisha; Vice-President’s wife, Dolapo; Chief of Staff to the President and some ministers such as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Information and Culture.

Read the report below;

Of the 127 aides, four are a little bit above the rank of ministers; 18 are aides that are paid for by donor agencies; 56 are aides of varied ranks whose emoluments could not be determined while 49 are on the rank of special advisers whose emoluments are captured by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.

The 49 aides whose emoluments are captured by the RMAFC are entitled to N2.48bn within a four-year tenure. Some of the aides are attached to the President’s wife, Aisha; Vice-President’s wife, Dolapo; Chief of Staff to the President and some ministers such as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Information and Culture.

According to a government document obtained by one of our correspondents, the aides are classified into five categories: top aides, Special Advisers, Senior Special Assistants, Special Assistants and Personal Assistants.

The document shows that four political appointees fall into the category of top aides. There are seven Special Advisers; 51 Senior Special Assistants; 47 Special Assistants and 18 Personal Assistants.

Out of the 51 SSAs, however, nine of them are donor-funded. Among the 47 SAs, nine are also donor-funded. This means that 18 of the aides draw their salaries from donor agencies that give grants to the government.

Each special adviser is entitled to an annual basic salary of N1,942,875; motor vehicle fuel and maintenance of N1,457,156.25; special assistant (full value paid for by the government); personal assistant allowance of N485,718.75; domestic staff allowance of N1,457,156.25; entertainment allowance of N874,293.75; utilities allowance of N582,862.50 and newspapers/periodicals allowance of N291,493.75.  These allowances come up to a total of N7, 091,493.75 per annum or N590, 957.81 a month. The total salary for the 49 aides amounts to N347, 483,193.75 per annum. For tenure of four years, they collect N1.39bn.

However, there are other irregular allowances. These include  an accommodation allowance of N3, 885,750 per annum. The 49 aides collect N190.4m per annum for accommodation. This amounts to N761.61m for tenure of four years.

A furniture allowance of N5, 828,625 is paid once in Four-year tenure. For the 49 aides, this amounts to N285.6m for the tenure. Leave allowance of N194, 287.50 is paid once a year. 

For the 49 aides, this amounts to N9.52m per annum or N38.08m per tenure. Other allowances include tour allowance of N25, 000 per night for local trip and $800 per night for foreign trips. Medical treatment is fully provided and not monetised.

For the salaries and allowances that are quantified, the 49 aides get an annualised total of N620m or N2.48bn in four years. This excludes a severance allowance of N5, 828,625 per person at the end of the tenure. 

The emoluments of the 47 special assistants and 18 personal assistants could not be ascertained because their entitlements were not contained in RMAFC’s template.

The other category of aides (nine senior special assistants and nine special assistants) – 18 in all – who are funded by donor agencies do not earn uniform remunerations although their salaries are generally higher than what the regular aides get. Usually, what they earn depends on qualifications, experience, ability to negotiate and the donor agency that is picking the bill. While some of these aides are paid in foreign currencies, other are paid the naira equivalent. 

American donor agencies are said to pay lesser than British agencies, for instance. Some of the aides are rated per hour while others are rated and paid on a monthly basis.

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