Mbam disclosed this to State House correspondents shortly after briefing President Muhammadu Buhari of the commission’s activities inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
There has been outrage over the renumeration of members of the National Assembly which many believe is outrageous.
The public outcry became more pronounced recently when Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinabajo offered to take only half of the salaries approved for them throughout their four-year tenure.
Many Nigerians had called on the federal lawmakers to take similar steps.
Mbam however claimed that the figures being peddled on the renumeration packages of lawmakers are not known to his commission.
He explained that based on renumeration packages determined by the RMAFC, no federal lawmaker should earn up to N1million per month.
This notwithstanding, Mbam said the commission was almost concluding work on new renumeration packages that will reflect the current socio-economic realities in the country.
He said the draft would be ready before the end of September.
He said, “Presently, we are currently reviewing the subsisting renumeration packages and it is going to reflect the socio-economic realities of today.
“We expect that before the end of next month, it will be ready.
“But it will go through a process, it is not something that you will just say ‘yes or no.’
He said the review would affect all cadres of public office holders at all arms of government including the executive, legislature and the judiciary
Mbam said the review became necessary because many government agencies, states and local governments had not been able to pay salaries as a result of the sharp drop in oil price.
He however admitted that the downward review of the renumeration did not start with the present administration as the commission had started the review process from last year.
When asked whether the National Assembly members will accept pay cut as being planned by the commission, Mbam said, “They (the federal lawmakers) do not have a choice. We are guided by the constitution and we are going to be guided by such laws that are provided for in the constitution. They swore to obey the laws of the country.”
He said the President’s advice for the commission during the meeting was that they should ensure that they use all legitimate means to see that all public office holders took home the renumeration as determined by the commission.
He added that Buhari also advised his team to ensure that leakages are blocked and make attempts to expand the size of the cake.
Mbam said he was not in a position to say when the new revenue sharing formula whose draft his commission had already produced would come into force.
“I do not want to give a definite date because it is beyond my control. I do not determine when the process will be concluded but as far as the commission is concerned, we have concluded our work and announced to the general public that we have a draft. But you know it goes through a process before it finally becomes a law,” he explained.
The RMAFC boss identified inadequate funding as one of the challenges being faced by the commission.
He made a case for the commission to be allowed to benefit from first line charge.
He also sought the power of enforcement for the commission, saying it should be empowered to sanction defaulting Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
He added, “One of the challenges is that the commission is not properly funded and we are saying that we expect that the commission should be one of the agencies of government that should have financial autonomy.
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