06:03 Joseph
A Senator earns N12,766,320 yearly, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has said.
Legislators’
pay has been the subject of a big controversy, with some critics
alleging that a senator earns as much as N29.8 million yearly.
This, said the RMAFC in a newspaper advertorial yesterday, is not correct.
In
a statement signed by the Acting Secretary to the Commission, Usman I.
Garndawa, the RMAFC said: “The attention of the RMAFC has been drawn to
an avalanche of media reports concerning the current remuneration
package for political, public and Judicial office holders in Nigeria.
The said reports further quoted RMAFC as the source of their
information. Accordingly, the Commission, therefore, considers it most
appropriate and necessary to provide the actual details of present
remuneration package for political, public and judicial office holders
to avoid misinformation and misrepresentation of facts capable of
misleading citizens and members of the international community.”
In
a recent study, the United Kingdom (UK) based Independent Parliamentary
Standards Authority, IPSA and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as
reported by The Economist , a Nigerian legislator, it was alleged,
earns a basic salary ( excluding allowances) of about N29.8 million per
annum. The report also suggested that the salary is 116 times more than
the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, per person, which has been
pegged at about N251, 200.
Expectedly, the report generated local
and international uproar with civil society organisations calling for
an immediate review of the ‘jumbo package”.
The RMAFC said a senator earns N2,026,400.00 as annual basic salary, which translates to N168, 866.70 per month.
According to the RMAFC, this has been the official remuneration package since February 2007 till date.
However,
there are other regular allowances which have been calculated as: Motor
Vehicle Fuelling and Maintenance, N1,519,800.00; personal assistant
N506,600.00, Domestic Staff N1,519,800.00; Entertainment
N607,920.00;Utilities N607,920.00; Newspapers/Periodicals N303,960.00,
Wardrobe N506,600.00; House Maintenance N101,320.00 and Constituency
allowance N5,066,000.00 making a total of N12,766,320.00 as the salary
per annum for a Senator.
The breakdown monthly– basic salary and allowances – a senator takes home N1.063.860.00 monthly.
Other
allowances, which are paid annually or once in four years and when
applicable, are: Accommodation N4, 052,800.00, which is paid annually;
furniture allowance N6, 079,200.00 which is paid once in four years.
Also, there is Duty Tour Allowance, DTA (per night), which is N37,000.
Estacode (per night) is $950. Recess allowance is N202,640.00 and
severance gratuity, paid after a successful completion of tenure, is
N6,079,200.00. A Senator could also apply for a car loan of N8,
105,600.00 which must be repaid before the expiration of his tenure.
A
member of the House of Representatives earns slightly lower than a
Senator, with a basic yearly salary of N1,985,212.50, divided into a
monthly salary of N165,434.40. However, the total salary, including the
regular allowances, is N9, 529,038.06. This is outside the other
allowances, which include: Accommodation N3,970,425.00; Furniture
N5,955,637.50; DTA N35,000; Estacode $900; Recess N198,521.25 and
Severance Gratuity N5,955,637.50. A Representative can also apply for a
car loan of N7,940,850.00.
A member of the House of Representatives takes home N794,088.83 only.
According
to the RMAFC, the emoluments for ministers, Secretary to the Government
of the Federation, Head of Service and Chairmen of Constitutional
Bodies are close to those of the Senators with a basic annual salary of
N2, 026,400.00 and a total annual take-home pay of N7, 801,640.00 minus
other allowances which include: Accommodation, furniture, DTA, estacode,
severance gratuity, leave bonus and car loan – all amounting to about
N24, 695, 40.00, per annum.
Minister of State and members of
constitutional bodies earn an annual basic salary of N1957, 580.00 and a
total annual salary of N7, 536,683.00. Like the Minister, the Minister
of State also earns special allowance package, which includes:
Accommodation N3,915,160.00, Furniture N5,872,740.00, DTA N30,000 (per
night), Estacode $900 ( per night), Severance Gratuity N5,872,740.00,
Leave Allowance N195,758.00 and a car loan of N7,830,320.00.
The
RMAFC said the remuneration package, which is contained in the Certain
Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders Salaries and Allowances
etc, (Amendment) Act of 2008, states the actual amount being paid to
legislators and other public officers, adding, however that “any other
allowance (s) enjoyed by any political, public office holder outside
those provided in the Remuneration Act of 2008 is not known to the
Commission and the Chief Accounting Officer should be held accountable”.
The
Economist compared the salaries and allowances of Nigeria’s public
office holders with those of the developed countries, concluding that
Nigeria’s public office holders are the highest paid in the world,
followed by Kenya, Ghana and Indonesia in that order. The public
officers in Norway, Spain and Sri Lanka earn the lowest in the world.
However,
some lawmakers have come out to counter the outrage sparked by the
publication, describing it as misleading. According to Zakari Muhammed,
spokesman of the House of Representatives, the report is an
exaggeration. “Whatever is being written is mere exaggeration and does
not reflect what is accurate. They fail to realise that what we take as
salaries is different from what we use in running our offices.”
The
RMAFC, in faulting the figures published by The Economist, said: “It
is, therefore, wrong and misleading to add up allowances irrespective of
whether they are regular, refundable or non-regular, as the regular
annual emoluments of political and public office holders.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment