By Lanre Babalola & Kazeem Ugbodaga of PM News, Lagos Constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay has revealed that a legislator in the National Assembly, Abuja, Nigeria, earns far more than the United States President, Barack Obama. This revelation was made by Sagay yesterday when he delivered a lecture to mark the 47 th birthday celebration of the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele held at the Eko FM Multi-Purpose Hall, Ikeja, Lagos. In the lecture, Sagay lamented that a Nigerian Senator, in 2009 earned N240 million in salaries and allowances annually while his House of Representatives counterpart earned N203.8 million annually. “In other words, a senator earned about $1.7 million and a member of the House of Representatives earned $1.45 million per annum,” he said. He said this shows that a legislator in Nigeria earns more than the US President, Obama, who earns $400 , 000 per annum and British Prime Minister, 190 , 000 pounds, while a senator in Nigeria, one of the poorest countries in the world, earns $1.7 million. Sagay added that a legislator in Nigeria also earns more than his counterpart in the US and the United Kingdom. “By contrast, an American senator earns $174,000 and a U.K. Parliamentarian earns about $64 , 000 per annum,” he said. “In spite of the dismal standard of living, poverty in the country and low per capita income  of Nigeria, Nigerian legislators in Abuja have awarded themselves the highest salaries and allowances in the world. In other words, the Nigerian lawmakers in Abuja are the highest paid in the world,” lamented Sagay. According to Sagay, “in 2009, the Federal legislators received a total of N102.8 billion comprising N11.8 billion as salaries and N90.96 billion as allowances.   Is the tax payer getting value for this colossal sum in the current democratic dispensation?  Should five percent of Nigeria’s annual budget be spent on 109 senators and 360 House of Representatives members?    “In other words, should 469