NIGERIANS that have expressed surprise that each senator receives N506,600 per annum as wardrobe allowance may be in for a shocker as the lawmakers receive far more allowances under different other categories.

Investigation by our correspondent on Monday showed that senators’ allowances totalled N18,642,880 on annual basis.

In all, the allowance each senator receives is nine times more than his annual salary.

A senator’s salary is pegged at N2,026,400 per annum.

Each senator or a member of the House of Representatives is entitled to 19 different allowances.

These allowances are for vehicle maintenance and fuelling; domestic staff, entertainment, utilities, personal assistant, constituency, wardrobe, house maintenance, newspapers, recess, accommodation, furniture, severance, tour duty, estacode, special assistant, security, legislative aide and medical.

These allowances are specified in the Remuneration Package for Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders prepared by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.

On an annual basis, the 107 senators receive   N1,994,788,160 as allowances. Only 107 senators are eligible for these allowances. The President of the Senate and Deputy President of the Senate receive fewer allowances because most of their needs are fully provided for by the state.

For members of the House, the annual allowances payable are about eight times higher than their annual salaries.

While the annual salary of a House member is pegged at N1,985,212.50, the annual allowances add up to N15,286,135.25. This means that the 358 members of the House (excluding the speaker and the deputy speaker) get N5,472,436,419.5 annually in allowances.

The allowances, however, are in categories. Some are tagged regular while others are tagged irregular allowances.

Regular allowances are those that are paid on monthly basis along with the monthly salaries while irregular allowances are paid at other intervals, ranging from annual to once in four years.

There are also other allowances not included in this calculation that are paid not at any fixed periods but as many times as they occur in the year.

The allowances are calculated as percentages of the annual salaries. While some are higher than the annual salaries, others are lower.

Basically, both senators and Reps are paid the same percentages of their salaries as allowances, except the constituency allowance where senators are paid 250 per cent while Reps get 100 per cent of their annual salaries.

Vehicle maintenance and fuelling allowance is 75 per cent; domestic staff, 75 per cent; entertainment, 30 per cent; utilities, 30 per cent; wardrobe, 25 per cent; newspapers, 15 per cent; house maintenance, five per cent; and personal assistants, 25 per cent.

For a senator, therefore, the vehicle maintenance and fuelling allowance adds up to N1,519,800; domestic staff, N1, 519,800; entertainment, N607,920; utilities, N607,920; wardrobe, N506,600; newspapers, N303,960; house maintenance, N101,320; constituency, N5,066,000; personal assistant, N506,600.

For a member of the House of Representatives, the vehicle maintenance and fuelling allowance comes up to N1,488,909.40; domestic staff, N1,488,909.40; entertainment, N595,563.75; utilities, 595,563.75; wardrobe, N496,303.12; newspapers, N303,960; house maintenance, N99,260.62; constituency, N1,985,212.50; and personal assistant, N 496,303.12.

The irregular allowances include housing allowance, 200 per cent of the Reps annual salaries; furniture allowance, 300 per cent; recess allowance, 10 per cent and severance allowance, 300 per cent.

Housing allowance is paid once a year.

Furniture allowance is paid once in four years and recess allowance is paid when the lawmakers are on recess and they go on recess four times in a year. Severance allowance is at the end of the four-year tenure.

The housing allowance of a senator is N4,053,800. The furniture allowance is N6,079,200. On annualised basis, the furniture allowance is N1,519,800. The recess allowance climbs to N810,560 if they go on recess four times a year. The severance allowance is N6,079,200. On annual basis, it comes down to N1,519,800.

For Reps, the housing allowance is N3,970,425. The furniture allowance is N5,955,637.50. Annually, the furniture allowance comes down to N1, 488,909.38.

Also, recess allowance comes up to N794, 084. The severance allowance is N5,955,637.50. On annual basis, it comes down to N1,488,909.38.

There are other allowances that the lawmakers are not paid directly but provided and paid for by the government.

These are allowances for special assistants, security and legislative aides. What this means is that those engaged in these capacities are paid directly by the government as the allowances cannot be claimed by political office holders. These allowances apply to senators and Reps.

Medical expenses are also borne by the government when the lawmakers have need for the services.

The lawmakers are also entitled to tour duty allowance and estacode whenever they travel out of the country. For a senator, the tour duty allowance is N37,000 per night while the estacode is $950 per night.

For a member of the House of Representatives, the tour duty allowance is N35,000 per night while the estacode is $900 per night.

Although political office holders in the country are among the highest paid government officials in the world, our correspondent reports that the worry of many Nigerians is not what they earn officially but what accrues to them through self-appropriation and corruption.

The budget of the National Assembly is never broken into components and efforts to get them to break down the budget have not yielded the required result even after the invocation of the Freedom of Information Act.

Lawmakers are known to collect huge quarterly allocations, some of which are ostensibly designated for constituency projects. The constituency allowance is different from the constituency project fund.
Constituency allowance is paid for the maintenance of constituency office and contact while constituency project fund are appropriated to enable the lawmakers to execute projects in their constituencies.

http://www.punchng.com/news/senators-allowances-nine-times-higher-than-basic-pay/.

I will suggest we take away the allowances and leave the basic salary...

I also believe we need just unicameral legislature cos the work of the house of reps and the Senate are quite same so need having them both. They are draining the country dry.

"Am Idris and I just wanna make common sense"...




That being said, my thread made FP ! Waooo!

**crying tears of joy, brings out handkerchief and blows plenty thick catarrh into it**

JESU!!!!! this is internal boko haram

If the last assembly could pass 43bills in a day at a sitting, it is apparent the legislators job should not be full time and bicameral. Let them collect sitting allowance and sit only when it is required. This would also attract the best brains into the house. Same should go for states too.

Take away all the allowances and you will see senators resigning from their positions.

They dont care about us.

All they care is about thier family and their pocket.

Competent people will rule this country if only we can make political offices less attractive by reducing thier salaries and allowances by 75%.

These LegislaTHIEVES are d problem with this country.
Fooking Parasites.
The thunder wey go fire dem dey receive touchline instruction from Amadioha and Sango Olukoso

only JESUS can CHANGE Nigeria
Church #corrupt
Elders #corrupt
Youths #EXTREMELY#CORRUPT
even me dey corr... mean CORRECT
Morn Y'all

Am not surprise
No wonder they want to kill each other during election.
See way thing person papa de receive Officially what about the one them de collect Serectly

Well I still get hope for this country for now
But when Biafra come, then I go give up.

if only we were given the privilege of choosing our country

ziccoit:
If the last assembly could pass 43bills in a day at a sitting, it is apparent the legislators job should not be full time and bicameral. Let them collect sitting allowance and sit only when it is required. This would also attract the best brains into the house. Same should go for states too.

They've deliberated on something like that but they(the lawmaker) said most of them are chairman of an adhoc committee and they claim they cant be coming only for sitting and still head a committee coz they will be doing their own personal job if they are paid based on sitting and wont be possible to still head a committee that will brief the house report on their next sitting.

lalasticlala, Ishilove...FP things

I will never understand why 469 people feel entitled to 25% of the overhead budget of a country of 170million people...

As crazy as these amounts are though, a large chunk of the 150bn annual budget is still left unaccounted for,the devil in that detail is the constituency allowance that no LAW enpowers them to collect on behalf of their states/local govt areas, it is an usurpation of the duty of the executive arm of govt by those blood sucking leeches!!

I think Nigeria need a confederation Goverment, because this federal system has brought nothing but disappoint in all manner, we as Nigeria can not eradicate the extent of corruption under this our dispensational federation . How can this issue be solved? Where by the only mention here are national assembly let alone state house, executive, judicial organ, where by president alone are spending N9.08bn to maintain its own jets annually just a jets what about other things? I would have suggest a revolution in nigeria but the issue of tribalism can never allowed it to succeed, take a look of South Africa where by every child born are paid R320 (N6400) until 18yrs and each person that attain 60yrs is entitle of old age grant of R1500(N30,000) what did we get in gaint of Africa nothing even our old parents are suffering and many nigerians are scattering all over the world doing one things or another just to support itself and family, what are the cause? Bad leadership, corrupt government in a high place. We cannot continue to fold our hand and expect God intervention because GOd help those who help themself, faith without work is dead, rise up people of goodwill in Nigeria let us moblize ourselfs and tackle this problem once and for all, let us stop complaining that no body listning and put the issue of tribe or ethnicity aside but be one Nigeria in solving this problem because we can't continue like this.

LegislaTHIEVES

Hmmmmmmmn! And I have less than 200 naira to feed my son and my wife today. May God Almighty punish all OUR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MEMBERS.

dddrexjr:
only JESUS can CHANGE Nigeria
Church #corrupt
Elders #corrupt
Youths #EXTREMELY#CORRUPT
even me dey corr... mean CORRECT
Morn Y'all

Please, don't wait for Jesus. He won't do for us what's clearly our responsibility. Making the system better is OUR responsibility.

ope2711:
Hmmmmmmmn! And I have less than 200 naira to feed my son and my wife today. May God Almighty punish all OUR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MEMBERS.

He won't punish them. Only we can punish them, either by protesting or recalling them. It's our duty.

dignity33:
I think Nigeria need a confederation Goverment, because this federal system has brought nothing but disappoint in all manner, we as Nigeria can not eradicate the extent of corruption under this our dispensational federation . How can this issue be solved? Where by the only mention here are national assembly let alone state house, executive, judicial organ, where by president alone are spending N9.08bn to maintain its own jets annually just a jets what about other things? I would have suggest a revolution in nigeria but the issue of tribalism can never allowed it to succeed, take a look of South Africa where by every child born are paid R320 (N6400) until 18yrs and each person that attain 60yrs is entitle of old age grant of R1500(N30,000) what did we get in gaint of Africa nothing even our old parents are suffering and many nigerians are scattering all over the world doing one things or another just to support itself and family, what are the cause? Bad leadership, corrupt government in a high place. We cannot continue to fold our hand and expect God intervention because GOd help those who help themself, faith without work is dead, rise up people of goodwill in Nigeria let us moblize ourselfs and tackle this problem once and for all, let us stop complaining that no body listning and put the issue of tribe or ethnicity aside but be one Nigeria in solving this problem because we can't continue like this.

Nigeria is not the giant of Africa when it comes to anything meaningful. We are only giant in population and corruption.

I agree with almost everything else you've written.

modath:
I will never understand why 469 people feel entitled to 25% of the overhead budget of a country of 170million people...

As crazy as these amounts are though, the 150bn annual budget is still left unaccounted for,the devil in that detail is the constituency allowance that no LAW enpowers them to collect on behalf of their states/local govt areas, it is ursurpation of the duty of the executive arm of govt by those blood sucking leeches!!

What a depressing scenario!

I'm glad at last the lawmakers are beginning the get focus their activities deserve. Hitherto, all attention was fixated on the FG, while we scarcely pay any attention to these overfed and lazy bunch of lawmakers.

It's refreshing to see all sensible Nigerians calling on our lawmakers to reduce their insane allowances to reflect the current economic realities What these folks take home annually- even monthly- is an insult to the Nigerian workers.

We've now gotten the necessary information.

Question is: what are going to do with it? Talk won't reduce these allowances; only action will.

Book haram and mend need to join together to start kidnapping this greedy politicians instead of bombing churches, mosques and pipelines. Make yourselves useful

And this are the people that claim to Have Nigerians at heart,

vision2050:
Book haram and mend need to join together
to start kidnapping this greedy politicians
instead of bombing churches, mosques and
pipelines. Make yourselves useful

the I.diots are busy bombing and killing innocent souls,
I think bombing this politicians will take them to Paradise not just heaven

And one selfish rep was bold to come out and tells us that their pay is below one million, refering the reporter to the bank to verify his claims. God we need ur help.

That's why they can kill and maim to get to that position. Why do they think they deserve that money sef ? Are they doing more work than a lecturer? Or a teacher? Or policeman or a soldier. This thing tire me o!

sultan457:

They've deliberated on something like that but they(the lawmaker) said most of them are chairman of an adhoc committee and they claim they cant be coming only for sitting and still head a committee coz they will be doing their own personal job if they are paid based on sitting and wont be possible to still head a committee that will brief the house report on their next sitting.

Committee for oversight function. That means they are oversighting what some people are doing. install competent people to head ministry and parastatals and we don't need oversight function from anywhere.

The bleeding of our commonwealth.

rich legislators in a poor country jumbo pay makes no sense

Jesus!

I thought they said we're broke?

This is ridiculous. I am even seeing constituency allowance among the million million. That's laughable because these constituencies are not feeling the impact of these legislators. They are pocketing the allowance and giving us the middle finger while at it.

yet to see the"change"in this country
all i see is change of personells but same old policies

This na small na. What about the 60m that Senators are given every three months (20m per month) and the N40m reps are given same period?