Just how much do our legislators actually earn? It has been a question that has occupied the imagination of a lot of Nigerians, because the figures have never been publicly known. In spite of the public outcry, repeated calls by leading civil society organisations, the use of the Freedom of Information Act, and even a court ruling, the dirt on our lawmakers was never made public.
Not anymore it seems. Following a report in the Economist, a UK based magazine, which said that Nigeria’s legislators were the highest paid in the world, the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) finally released details of the legitimate salaries and allowances the National Assembly.
[READ: Giants of the world: Our lawmakers earn 116 times more than the average Nigerian]
In a public notice signed by Usman Garndawa, acting Secretary of the RMAFC, the report was published “to avoid misinformation and misrepresentation of facts.”
The Acting Secretary in an apparent attempt at explaining the numbers, said that “regular allowances are paid regularly with basic salaries while non-regular allowances are paid as at when due. For instance, furniture allowance and severance gratuity are paid once in every tenure and vehicle allowance which is optional is a loan which the beneficiary has to pay before the end of tenure. It is therefore wrong and misleading to add up allowances irrespective of whether they are regular, refundable or non-regular as the regular annual emoluments of political public office holders.”
The RMAFC also said that it was not responsible for the payment of any other allowance.
“The commission also wishes to use this opportunity to state that any other allowance(s) enjoyed by any political, public office holders outside those provided in the Remuneration Act of 2008 is not known to the commission and the chief accounting officer should be held accountable.”
Here are the official RMAFC figures. You be the judge
Accommodation
Senators – N4 million
Reps – N3.97 million
Vehicle Loan (Once in 4 years)
Senators – N8 million
Reps – N7.94 million
Furniture Allowance (Once in 4 years)
Senators – N6 million
Reps – N5,956 million
Severance Gratuity (Once in 4 years)
Senators – N6.09 million
Reps – N5.956 million
Vehicle fuelling and maintenance
Senators – N1.52 million
Reps – N1.489 million
Constituency Allowance
Senators – N5 million
Reps – N4.985 million
Domestic Staff
Senators – N1.519 million
Reps -N1.488 million
Personal Assistant
Senators – N506,600
Reps – N496,303
Entertainment
Senators – N607,920
Reps – N595,563
Recess
Senators – N202,640
Reps – N198,521
Utilities
Senators – N607,920
Reps – N397,042
Newspapers/Periodicals
Senators – N303,960
Reps – N297,781
House Maintenance
Senators – N101,321
Reps – N99,260
Wardrobe
Senators – N506,600
Reps – N496,303
[Photo H/T: Yn