See What Nigeria Legislators Earn, Yet...?

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.

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