I Earn Only N950,000 Monthly – Amaechi

Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation says he earns only N950,000 monthly, as a minister in the current administration.

Amaechi made the revelation on Tuesday at the presentation of a book titled, ‘Dignity in Service,’ authored by the late Dr. Matthew Mbu, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, in Abuja.

According to the minister, out of the money, N350,000 is for accommodation, while the remaining N600,000 is paid to his staff.

Amaechi who was governor of Rivers State between 2007 and 2014, said President Muhammadu Buhari’s government had helped stop the culture of waste and lavish living amongst government officials.

He said, “A minister earns only N950, 000 a month. Out of this money, N350, 000 is for accommodation so there is no more money given to you. The remaining N600, 000 includes payment for your staff, personal assistants and all that.

“Nigerians like going to parties. That is one benefit of this government. We now assess our wealth and value money. Before, once you get money from the illegal means, we hold parties. There are very few parties these days because there is no more money to hold such parties.

“There are no ‘owambe’ anymore because there is very little money to hold ‘owambe.’ The reason is that the ‘owambe’ money used to come from the government and there is no money in the government to do such.”

Speaking earlier, Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, says it is worrisome that the older generation are holding on to power and are refusing to vacate office for the younger generation.

Onaiyekan said the post-independence leaders like the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa, were young when they did great things for Nigeria.

The cleric said it was this sort of orientation that caused the late Mbu to be appointed a minister at the age of 23.

“The point I want to make is this; today when you hear that a young boy was a minister, my mind always goes to those days too and I ask, how many people were old then? The people we now see as ancestors were all young people. I will like to find out the age of Tafawa Balewa and even Awolowo at that time,” he said.

“They were all relatively young and when Awolowo and Azikwe broke grounds then, they were young. I think this is the story we need to tell our younger people but the question is, where is the space for our younger people when old people like me are still hanging around?

“We have to find a way of giving room to younger people to show what they can do also. Mbu has shown that young people can perform but we have also had experiences of young people who have not performed.

“So at the end of the day, maybe it is not a matter of the age but a matter of your own mind, your intention, your love for doing the right thing especially concern for others, politics and service to the people in the name of God. If we start to take these things seriously then probably it would not matter whether we declare to seek re-election at 79 or whether we don’t.”