Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra state, says what governors earn in Nigeria is immoderate.

Speaking as a panelist at the dialogue organised by Ripples Centre for Data and Investigative Journalism in Lagos on Thursday, Obi told the audience that if he revealed how much a Nigerian governor earns, the outrage would be hotter than what trailed the N13.5 million monthly pay of senators.

“None of you knows what a governor earns, quote me anywhere if you know you won’t be here,” he said.

“It is something you can’t imagine. You just know the one of senators, and you are shouting, but what if you know that of the governors?”

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 N50 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.

“I asked them, why are all these vehicles following me, and nobody was able to explain to me. I didn’t stop it because of them following me, but the cost of maintaining them was high. I asked them why do we need to spend about N30 million fueling these vehicles that 60 percent are empty when following me?” he said.

“What is the essence of a bulletproof car? Anyone who wants to kill you would come when you are out of the car. For eight years I didn’t use, and they didn’t kill me.”

In 2017, Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, made public details of his state’s expenditure, including security vote.

On the payslip shared by the governor, the Kaduna state government paid the governor a net salary of N470,521.74 for the month of February 2017.

Obi also noted that politicians are fond of making promises they cannot fulfil when voted into power.

“You told us that you are going to solve a problem, and we voted you, and now you are telling us that you met a problem, what do you expect to meet?” he asked.

“You shouldn’t tell us the story of what you met there, we do not expect 100 percent result, but 100 percent effort. We voted you because you said you aree-of-senators-if-i-reveal-what-govs-earn

nonsobaba:
This peter obi is just a frustrated hypocrite. When he was governor of my state, he never for once disclosed or published how much he was collecting every month as security votes or even published the monthly or yearly account standing of the state. Upon leaving office, he hurriedly made up a fake sum of N75b as surplus to deceive his few supporters.

nonsobaba:
This peter obi is just a frustrated hypocrite. When he was governor of my state, he never for once disclosed or published how much he was collecting every month as security votes or even published the monthly or yearly account standing of the state. Upon leaving office, he hurriedly made up a fake sum of N75b as surplus to deceive his few supporters.

dignity33:

Face reality because we can't continue asking why you did not do it before we need to move forward and collect some mistakes in our political setting I once said it when people where shouting about N13.5m a month for senators and I said until we also no how much president and Governors received a month too.

seunmsg:
If Obi want Nigerians to take him serious, he should reveal the immoderate salaries that he earned while in office and let us judge him. When he was enjoying the immoderate salary, he kept quiet and enjoyed it. Now that he's out of office and seeking another opportunity at public office, he's hypocritically putting pressure on current governors with the intention to deceive gullible Nigerians. Once he gets back to public office, he will start enjoying the immoderate salaries and keep quiet again. Just go away with your double face hypocrisy Mr. Obi.

nwabobo:

Chino, how's your boss Ifeanyi Aniagoh?

femidejulius:
I agree with Gov Peter Obi esp on what he said about no need for governors using bullet proof cars.

Anyone who wants to kill you can actually wait til you are out of the car and then shoot you from a safe distance. Bullet proof vehicles are unnecessary.