Councillors across Cross River State’s 196 wards are taking home no less than 900,000 naira monthly, thanks to initiatives from Governor Bassey Edet Otu says Govt. Aide
A breakdown from a Govt. Official has revealed that councillors in Cross River State receive monthly earnings exceeding N900,000, a historic financial package in the state’s democratic era.
Kenneth Anam, the Special Assistant to the Wife of the Governor on New Media and Communication, provided the figures to counter what he describes as false narratives of neglect and insufficient support from the state government.
According to Anam, each of the state’s 196 ward councillors earns a statutory salary of approximately N199,000. This base pay is significantly boosted by a monthly N7 million “Legislative Vote” (LV) fund disbursed by the state government to each local government legislature, which is then shared among its councillors.
Using Bakassi Local Government as a case study, Anam illustrated that its 10 councillors divide the N7 million LV fund, resulting in an additional N700,000 each. Combined with the N199,000 salary, this alone totals nearly N900,000 monthly. He noted that this amount is often supplemented further by optional running costs and subventions from local government chairmen.
“This is a feat that has never been since the advent of democracy in the last three dispensations of governance in the State,” Anam stated, emphasizing the unprecedented nature of the remuneration.
The official expressed strong criticism towards councillors who publicly bemoan a lack of resources, particularly during festive periods like Christmas, while benefiting from this structure. He labeled such behavior as “another form of sabotage, ungratefulness and entitlement mentality,” accusing some of a “CHOP CLEAN MOUTH” approach—enjoying substantial benefits while portraying the government in a negative light.
“Every Councillor from the 196 wards of Cross River State receives not less than 700K LV from the Governor on a monthly basis. This is aside their salaries,” Anam reiterated, stressing that their total package surpasses the official salary of a state commissioner.
He called for an end to what he termed “stale and unfounded tales” told to constituents and urged political office holders to make governance easier by being transparent. “If we cannot reach out to our people in our little ways, we should at least not muzzle the horse that threads the corn,” Anam concluded, advocating for accountability and a cessation of painting the administration in “bad light.”
Though the take home package is much compared to previous regimes. It’s worthy to note in that respect, the high inflation today. Also in fairness to them, the 7m votes is usually shared with the Clerk of the House and other legislative staff: it’s not an outright money to be eating like salary but the money is for stationary, sitting allowances, oversight functions, etc, and must be retired buy the legislative staff. Secondly, 7m shared in a LGAs with 11- 14 Councilors (e.g, Yala) does not give the same earning per councilor across the State.