As criticisms continue to trail the N21 million monthly salaries and allowances of National Assembly (NASS) members, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has faulted Nigeria’s wage system, saying it is breeding what it described as “choking inequality and inequity.”....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had last week accused the lawmakers of fixing their salaries and allowances amid the hardship, hunger and sufferings Nigerians were currently grappling with.
Spokesperson of the Senate, Yemi Adaramodu had attempted to downplay the accusation, saying the budget for the National Assembly was just one per cent of the entire country’s budget.
The Senate also denied allocating new salaries and allowances for Senators contrary to what was prescribed by the Revenue Mobilisation And Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMAFC).
Reacting to the controversy, spokesperson of the RMAFC, Ibrahim Mohammed, had said the total entitlement of each senator as monthly salary and allowances was about N1,063,860 million.
A breakdown by Mr Mohammed showed that the amount comprised the basic salary of N168,866, motor vehicle fueling and maintenance allowance of N126,650.00, personal assistant pay of N42,216.66, domestic staff 126,650.00 and entertainment, N50,660.00.
Other benefits include: utilities, N50,660.00; newspapers/periodicals N25,330.00; wardrobe allowance, N42,216,66.00; house maintenance, N8,443.33.00 and constituency allowance, N422,166.66
However, the lawmaker representing Kano South, Senator Sumaila Kawu, courageously revealed that he earns over N21million monthly as a total take-home package.
Reacting to the development, NLC’s Head of Information and Public Affairs, Benson Upah, insisted that any figure outside RMAFC figures, which were statutorily recognised, must be viewed with suspicion and considered an aberration.
He said: “It is part of the scandalously state-structured wage system that breeds choking inequality and inequity.
“Certainly insensitive if those figures are true. The lawmakers would be deemed to have acted in breach of the extant law. The law makers should not abuse their powers.”
Asked if the lawmakers were sensitive to the plight of Nigerians by reviewing such amounts monthly while the majority of Nigeria s struggle to feed, he said: “Quite unfortunately, the Legislators do not see any offence in this matter, as they are guided by what transpires in the executive space.
“The cost of governance will continue to balloon as privileged members of the executive and legislative arms of government continue to outdo one another in the gobbling of our commonwealth. It is a bleak picture!”
Meanwhile, Senator Shehu Sani, who years ago raised the alarm has said Senator Kawu’s disclosure that senators receive N21 million monthly as running costs has vindicated his (Sani’s) position.
Recall that, in 2017, the Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Sani, revealed that his account was credited with N13.5 million monthly as running costs, separate from his N750,000 salary.
In a post on his X handle a couple of days ago, Sani said: “Yesterday, the RMFAC refuted my statement but I’m now vindicated by Senator Kawu Sumaila, who confirmed that the monthly alert is N21 million and not N1 million. RMFAC make una mind yourself.
Similarly, worried by this scandalous accusation and criticism against the members of the country’s highest law-making institution, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, said that he suffered the same fate when he was a member of the House and as speaker, because of the belief by Nigerians that lawmakers were collecting millions as salaries and allowances monthly at the expense of Nigerian workers.
Dogara noted that, his salary was N400,000 while he had the sum of N25 million monthly as the Speaker of the 8th Assembly, saying that as a result of the speculations about the earnings of the members of the 8th House, he ordered that the breakdown of the House budget be made public, including what he was entitled to as the Speaker.
