Former governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, yesterday, disclosed that what a governor earned as take home allowance was far more than what a senator gets.
This came on a day members of the House of Representatives refused to disclose their salaries and running cost. Obi, who spoke as a panellist at the dialogue organised by Ripples Centre for Data and Investigative Journalism in Lagos, 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.
He said: “None of you knows what a governor earns, quote me anywhere if you know you won’t be here. It is something you can’t imagine. You just know the salary of senators, and you are shouting, but what if you know that of the governors?” He said what a public office holders earned in America was modest, adding: “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.