The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has stated that each of the 109 senators in the National Assembly earns ₦1,063,860 salary and allowances monthly.
The commission gave the breakdown of the salary and allowances of each senator as: Basic Salary – ₦168,866:70; Motor Vehicle Fuelling and Maintenance Allowance – ₦126,650:00; Personal Assistant – ₦42,216:66; Domestic Staff -₦126,650:00; Entertainment – ₦50,660:00; Utilities – ₦50,660:00; Newspapers/Periodicals – ₦25,330:00; Wardrobe – ₦42,216,66:00; House Maintenance – ₦8,443.33:00 and Constituency Allowance – ₦422,166:66; respectively.
RMAFC chairman, M. B. Shehu, in a statement on Tuesday, said the clarification became necessary in view of the recent statement made by Mr. Shehu Sani, a former Senator of the Federal Republic who was reported to have disclosed to the public that each Senator collects monthly running cost of ₦13.5 million in addition to the monthly ₦750,000 prescribed by the Commission.
Shehu said RMAFC does not have the constitutional powers to enforce compliance with the proper implementation of the remuneration package of lawmakers but assured that the “lacuna is, however, being addressed by the National Assembly.”
The RMAFC chairman also explained that some allowances are regular while others are not.
“Regular allowances are paid regularly with basic salary while non-regular allowances are paid when due,” he added.
“For instance, Furniture allowance (₦6,079,200:00) and Severance Gratuity (₦6,079,200:00) are paid once in every tenure and Vehicle allowance (₦8,105,600:00) which is optional is a loan which the beneficiary has to pay before leaving office,” Shehu added.
He further pointed out that apart from the president, vice president, senate president, and speaker of the House of Representatives, all public and legislative officers are no longer provided with housing, as was the case in the past.
Recently, former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, said it was “immoral” for federal lawmakers to determine their salaries and allowances, a responsibility he opined RMAFC should be saddled with.
The Senate spokesman Yemi Adaramodu however, challenged anyone with credible evidence to present contrary facts, describing any suggestion that the National Assembly fixes its salaries as “uncharitable and satanic.”
