Does a Nigerian senator actually earn N29million monthly or N3billion yearly? This is a puzzle yet to be unravelled.
The much publicised Thursday meeting between the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) with Senate President Bukola Saraki on the details of Nigerian senator’s salaries and allowances ended with the civil society organisation declaring as futile its attempt to urge the National Assembly leadership to publish same.
Media aides to the Senate President bluntly told a few Senate Correspondents that the meeting was not for media coverage. It took a statement from SERAP twenty-four hours later to set the record straight.
Senate spokesperson Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi had earlier appeared on a live programme on Channels Television where he refused to disclose the details of salaries and allowances of federal legislators.
SERAP’s request to Saraki on the need to publish details of senators’ take home pay was in response to the claim by the Chairman Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC) Itse Sagay, a professor, that a Nigerian Senator collects N29 million as monthly salary and N3billion per annum.
The Law Professor gave the details of the salaries and allowances of members of the upper legislative chamber as follows: basic salary N2,484,245.50; hardship allowance, N1,242,122.70; constituency allowance N4,968,509.00; furniture allowance N7,452,736.50; newspaper allowance N1,242,122.70. Others are: Wardrobe allowance N621,061.37; recess allowance N248,424.55; accommodation 4,968,509.00; utilities N828,081.83; domestic staff N1,863,184.12; entertainment N828,081.83; personal assistant N621,061.37; vehicle maintenance allowance N1,863,184.12; leave allowance N248,424.55; severance gratuity N7,425,736.50; and motor vehicle allowance N9,936,982.00.
Recall that in 2013, The Economist magazine of London had revealed that Nigerian federal legislators were the highest paid lawmakers in the world.
SERAP, the civil society organisation confirmed that getting details of the salaries and allowances of lawmakers from Saraki, who doubles as Chairman of the National Assembly is like trying to squeeze water out of stone.
A statement by the organisation said rather than clear the air, the meeting raised more questions than answers.
According to a statement signed by Timothy Adewale, SERAP Deputy Director, “While we appreciate the expressed commitment by Saraki to transparency and accountability of the National Assembly, and the rare opportunity to dialogue with him, we remain deeply concerned that the leadership of the Senate has unfortunately not satisfactorily addressed the damaging allegations by Professor Itse Sagay, Chairman Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC), that a Nigerian Senator gets N29 million in monthly pay, and over N3 billion a year.
“There is an apparent discrepancy in some areas between what Saraki said at the meeting and what the Senate is doing in practice to improve transparency of its operations and accountability of members. For example, the Senate President’s response to Sagay’s allegations was simply to refer SERAP to the National Assembly budget for 2017, which is available on its website. However, a careful study of the document shows that it contains only some general information and not specific details that respond directly to allegations raised by Sagay.
The statement added: “The meeting with Saraki raises more questions than it answers. The Senate budget on its website is incomplete. The absence of specific details on salaries and allowances of each senator not only makes analysis difficult, it also points to underlying weaknesses in monitoring and transparency mechanisms.
“Without including some level of details, Nigerians may see the published National Assembly budget as nothing more than window-dressing. SERAP hopes that the leadership of the Senate doesn’t want this to be the case—and we certainly see no reason why it should be the case. As we have noted, improved transparency on the exact salaries and allowances of senators and indeed members of the House of Representatives is in the interests of all.
“In SERAP’s view, rather than referring us to the seemingly incomplete National Assembly budget, the Senate President should have provided a line-by-line response to Sagay’s allegations. It is important that the leadership of the Senate provides additional information that is lacking from the published budget if it is ever going to satisfactorily clear the air on the issues.
“Continuing failure and/or refusal to provide a line-by-line response to Sagay’s allegations is counter-productive. Although the issues of transparency in the salaries and allowances of members of the National Assembly may seem like sensitive issues, they are exactly the kind of issues the Senate and House Representatives need to urgently address and clarify if Nigerians are ever to trust their lawmakers.
“As the 2017 National Assembly budget does not appear to record all allowances received by senators, it’s in the best interest of the Senate to now publish a line-by-line response to Sagay’s allegations rather than simply providing a blanket denial. If the Senate is disputing Sagay’s figures on the salaries and allowances of its members it should at least provide what it considers to be the current amounts, including on ‘hardship allowance’. One way the Senate can do this is by moving swiftly to publish details of senators’ payslips and other relevant documents on the salaries and allowances of members for Nigerians to compare and judge”.
That Nigeria is running the costliest democracy in the world is not in doubt. The jumbo salary being paid to political office holders is the reason for high cost of governance in Nigeria. It is a disservice to Nigerians that legislators smile to the bank when an average Nigerian cannot access good medical care, good roads and other basic things of life.
There is therefore an urgent need to review the bogus salaries and allowances of political holders; as the cost of maintaining them is extremely high.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
