Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent revelation that members of the 10th National Assembly fixed their humongous salaries and allowances has been confirmed by a serving Senator Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila, thus bringing the kleptomania, rascality and lawlessness of the current National Assembly to public domain
By Lukmon Ojerinde
The National Assembly has remained in shock in the past weeks since the issue of their humongous salaries and allowances were made public. Worse was the accusation by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that the 10th National Assembly criminally fixed their salaries and allowances. The former president argued that many federal lawmakers should be cooling off in jail had Nigeria been a country where the rule of law works effectively.
Obasanjo spoke on Friday, August 9, 2024 when he hosted some members of the house of representatives in Abeokuta, the capital city of Ogun state.
The former president said it is the duty of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC) to determine what public officeholders earn.
“Look at your case, with all due respect,” Obasanjo said.
“You are not supposed to fix your salaries or your allowances; it is supposed to be done by the RMFAC, but you decide what you pay yourselves, the allowances that you give yourselves — newspaper allowances, pant allowances — you give yourself all sorts of things. With due respect, you know it is not right.
“It is not right for me to be the one to declare and determine what I pay myself. It is immoral, and then you are doing it.
“The senate is doing it, and in some cases, the executive gives you what you are not entitled to. You all got N200 million.”
The federal legislative arm of government is often criticised for the “huge pay” allocated to its members. The total remuneration the federal lawmakers receive every month is shrouded in secrecy.
In 2018, Shehu Sani, a former senator who represented Kaduna Central, said he and his colleagues received N13.5 million monthly as running costs, aside from salaries.
But in a prompt reaction in defence of the National Assembly, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) on Sunday, August 11 struggled to lay to rest the opaqueness surrounding wages of National Assembly members when it revealed that each member of the Senate collects a total monthly salary and allowances of the sum of N1,063,860.
The breakdown of the cumulative take-home pay include basic salary of N168,866:70; motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance allowance of N126,650; N42,216:66 for personal assistant; domestic staff – N126,650:00; entertainment – N50,660:00; utilities – N50,660; newspapers/periodicals – N25,330:00; wardrobe allowance – N42,216,66:00; house maintenance – N8,443.33 and constituency allowance – N422,166:66 respectively.
The Chairman of RMAFC, Muhammed Bello Shehu, disclosed this in reaction to the recent controversy surrounding the actual salaries and allowances payable to members of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
However, chairman of the commission, which is empowered by law to fix salaries and allowances of political office-holders, said some allowances are regular while others are non-regular. Regular allowances are paid regularly with basic salary while non-regular allowances are paid as and when due.
For instance, furniture allowance (N6,079,200 million) and severance gratuity (N6,079,200 million) are paid once in every tenure and vehicle allowance (N8,105,600 million) which is optional is a loan that the beneficiary must pay before leaving office.
He emphasised that except for a few political and public office holders such as the President, Vice President, Senate President, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, among others, all public and legislative officers are no longer provided with housing as was the case in the past .“The Commission also wishes to use this opportunity to state that any allegation regarding other allowance(s) being enjoyed by any political, public office holder outside those provided in the Remuneration (Amendment) Act, 2008 should be explained by the person who made the allegation.
“To avoid misinformation and misrepresentation of facts capable of misleading citizens and members of the international community, the Commission considers it most appropriate and necessary to request Nigerians and any other interested party to avail themselves of the opportunity to access the actual details of the present remuneration package for political, public and judicial office holders in Nigeria published on its website: www.rmafc.gov.ng,” he stated.
But he acknowledged that RMAFC does not have constitutional powers to enforce compliance with proper implementation of the official remuneration package, a lacuna he said was being addressed by the National Assembly.
However, unfolding events have revealed that RMAFC was advertently or inadvertently deceiving Nigerians, this is because as scathing criticism began to trail National Assembly members’ pay, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports, Senator Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila, NNPP, Kano South, revealed that he earns N21 million in allowances every month, apart from monthly salary of about N1million.
Senator Sumaila spoke barely 24 hours after the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, Shehu, revealed that each senator collects a total monthly salary and allowances of N1,063,860.00.
However, speaking on BBC Hausa Service, Sumaila, who disclosed that the monthly salary was fixed by the RMAFC, said: “My monthly salary is less than N1million. After deductions, the figure comes down to a little over N600,000. Given the increase in the Senate, each senator gets N21 Million every month as running cost.”
