Jumbo pay: Lawmakers to earn N338.6 billion
A Daily Sun special report on the irrestible pay package that makes the National Assembly so attractive that politicians are ready to kill for a seat there.
From MODESTUS CHUKWULAKA, JAMES OJO and ISAAC ANUMIHE, Abuja
Friday, June 03, 2011

Those bickering over the jumbo pay of outgoing federal lawmakers may have to wait for the real shocker: The 469 incoming lawmakers will earn N338.6 billion in the next four years, investigations have revealed. For, Daily Sun can authoritatively report, it will cost the country at least three hundred and thirty-eight billion, six hundred and forty-five million eight hundred and forty-five thousand, five hundred and ten naira N338,645,845,510bn in taxpayers’ money to keep the 469 members of the incoming seventh National Assembly in office for the next four years.

The amount which covers salaries and sundry allowances to be earned by the lawmakers does not, however, factor in the deferential pays and other perquisites that go to the principal officers of the two chambers of the federal legislature. It does not also include expenses incurred on duty tours and estacode. It is also silent on the unverifiable lump sums that come from ‘oversight functions’ and ‘lobbying’.

Instructively, however, only a meager N18.245 billion is the actual salary projected to be paid the legislators over the period. The rest of the jumbo pay would come in the form of the quarterly allowances the two chambers of the legislature approved for themselves last year. They christened it, “running cost/quarterly allowance.” The breakdown of the allowance which comes down to N42 million and N45 million for every Rep and Senator respectively would see the members of the Green Chamber earning an additional N168 million every year, a figure that translates to N672 million for the four years such a lawmaker would stay in office.
For the Red Chamber, it comes to N720 million per Senator.

Incidentally, what would reflect on the pay slips of the lawmakers would be the statutory salary which when added together, comes to a not-too-paltry N18.245 billion for the two chambers in four years. Of this amount, N4, 881, 394, 960 will be spent on the 109 Senators while the remaining N13, 364, 450, 550 will be spent on the maintenance of the 360 members of the House of Representatives.

In line with the remuneration package for political, public and judicial office holders approved by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) from July 2009, a Senator earns an annual emolument of N8, 206, 920 while a member of the House of Representatives takes home N6, 352, 680 per annum.
The cumulative emolument of a Senator for the four years will, therefore, come to N32, 827, 680. In addition, each of the 109 Senators is expected to pocket another N11, 145, 200 in allowances described by the RMAFC as non-regular, and are collected one off as the case may be, at the beginning of the tenure.

The total annual emoluments comprise the basic salary which is N2, 026, 400 for a Senator and N1,985, 212.50 for a Rep, plus a number of regular allowances for vehicle maintenance and fueling, personal assistant, house maintenance, domestic staff, entertainment, utilities, constituency, newspapers and periodicals.
The non-regular allowances include accommodation (N3, 039, 600 for each Senator); furniture allowance (also N3, 039, 600); and vehicle loan (N5, 066, 000). Besides, each Senator is entitled to an annual leave allowance of N202, 640 or N810, 560 in four years.

In effect therefore, it will take N44, 783, 440 to maintain a Senator in the next four years or N4, 881, 394, 960 to maintain the entire 109 members of the Red Chamber as the Senate is referred to. In the House of Representatives, a member who is entitled to N6,352, 680 in annual emolument will earn N25, 410, 720 in four years, plus non-regular allowances totalling N10, 918, 668.75 as well as four years leave grants of N794, 085. What this means is that each Rep will earn N37, 123, 473.75 in the next four years.

The non-regular allowances of the members of the House of Representatives include an accommodation allowance of N2, 977, 818.75; a furniture allowance of another N2, 977, 818.75; and a vehicle allowance of N4, 963, 031.25. At the rate of N198, 521.25 per annum, the leave allowances of each member of the House in four years will come to N794, 085. Added together, therefore, a Rep is expected to earn N37, 123, 473.75. In other words, the 360 members of the Green Chamber will take away N13, 364, 450, 550 from the national coffers in the next four years.

Besides, allowances have also been made for the severance gratuity of each lawmaker after a successful tenure. Each Senator and Rep will smile home with 300 per cent of his annual basic salary as severance benefit.
For instance, the Senate President will earn N7, 452, 727.50; his Deputy and other Senators will get N6,927, 500.25 and 6,079, 200 respectively. In the House of Representatives the severance gratuity as approved by the commission include N7, 431, 330 for the Speaker, N6,861,102.75 for the Deputy, and N5,955, 637.50 for the rest of the members.

There is also an annual leave allowance of N202, 640 (which comes to N810, 560 in the four years).
It is usually to this statutory salaries from the Revenue mobilization and allocation commission that the lawmakers readily refer enquiries about their pay package. It is on this ground that the Senators will tell whoever cares to listen that no Senator earns more than one million naira per month, and they are always armed with their pay slips to confirm it. But that usually is not the whole truth.
http://sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/june/03/national-03-06-2011-001.html

Are these appropriations justified?