The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, has said that each of the 109 senators in the upper chamber receives a total of N1.06m in salary and allowances per month.
It clarified this in response to recent controversies over the real amount each lawmaker earns per month.
This means each lawmaker earns N12.72m in 12 months and the Federal Government makes a total expenditure of N1.4bn annually for all senators.
The RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Shehu, said this in a statement personally signed on Tuesday in Abuja.
A breakdown of their monthly earnings revealed that each Senator collects a monthly salary and allowances of N1,063,860, consisting of a basic salary, N168,866:70; motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance allowance, N126,650:00; and personal assistant, N42,216:66.
Others include domestic staff,126,650:00; entertainment, N50,660:00; utilities, N50,660:00; newspapers/periodicals, N25,330:00; wardrobe, N42,216,66:00; house maintenance, N8,443.33:00; and constituency allowance, N422,166:66.
The statement added, “It is instructive to note that some allowances are regular while others are non-regular. Regular allowances are paid regularly with basic salary while non-regular allowances are paid as at when due.
“For instance, furniture allowance (N6,079,200:00) and severance gratuity (N6,079,200:00) are paid once in every tenure, and vehicle allowance (N8,105,600:00) which is optional, is a loan which the beneficiary has to pay before leaving office.”
Recently, a former senator, Shehu Sani, claimed that each senator receives a monthly running cost of N13.5m in addition to the N750,000 monthly payment prescribed by the commission.
But responding, Shehu clarified that the RMAFC does not possess the constitutional authority to enforce compliance with the remuneration package for lawmakers.
He, however, stated that this gap is being addressed by the National Assembly.
Shehu stated that apart from the President, Vice President, Senate President, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, other public and legislative officers no longer receive housing benefits, which was previously the case.
“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,” the statement added.
On Sunday, the Senate responded to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent remarks suggesting that lawmakers in both chambers of the National Assembly set their salaries.
Senate spokesman, Yemi Adaramodu, challenged anyone with credible evidence to refute this, calling the idea that the National Assembly sets its salaries “uncharitable and satanic.”
Adaramodu clarified that the Senate receives salaries strictly as allocated by the RMAFC, under the constitution.
Former President Obasanjo, who served from May 1999 to May 2007, had criticised the practice of lawmakers determining their pay, calling it “immoral” and recommending that the RMAFC should handle the setting of salaries and allowances instead.
(PUNCH)
