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Serap Meets With Saraki : Let Nigerians Know Your Salaries by Nobody: 11:35am On Sep 22, 2017 |
The Socio-Economic Rights
and Accountability Project,
SERAP, has confirmed that its
representatives yesterday met
with the Senate President
Bukola Saraki to discuss
issues relating to details of
annual salaries and
allowances of lawmakers.
In a statement on Friday by
Timothy Adewale, SERAP
deputy director, the
organisation said that, “While
we appreciate the expressed
commitment by Saraki to
transparency and
accountability of the National
Assembly, and the rare
opportunity to dialogue with
him, we remain deeply
concerned that the leadership
of the Senate has
unfortunately not
satisfactorily addressed the
damaging allegations by
Professor Itse Sagay,
Chairman Presidential
Advisory Committee against
Corruption (PACAC), that a
Nigerian Senator gets N29
million in monthly pay, and
over N3 billion a year.”
According to the
organisation, “There is an
apparent discrepancy in
some areas between what
Saraki said at the meeting
and what the Senate is doing
in practice to improve
transparency of its
operations and accountability
of members. For example, the
Senate President’s response
to Sagay’s allegations was
simply to refer SERAP to the
National Assembly budget for
2017, which is available on
its website. However, a
careful study of the document
shows that it contains only
some general information
and not specific details that
respond directly to
allegations raised by Sagay.”
The statement read in part:
“The meeting with Saraki
raises more questions than it
answers. The Senate budget
on its website is incomplete. The absence
of specific details on salaries and
allowances of each senator not only
makes analysis difficult, it also points to
underlying weaknesses in monitoring
and transparency mechanisms.”
“Without including some level of details,
Nigerians may see the published
National Assembly budget as nothing
more than window-dressing. SERAP
hopes that the leadership of the Senate
doesn’t want this to be the case—and we
certainly see no reason why it should be
the case. As we have noted, improved
transparency on the exact salaries and
allowances of senators and indeed
members of the House of
Representatives is in the interests of all.
“In SERAP’s view, rather than referring
us to the seemingly incomplete National
Assembly budget, the Senate President
should have provided a line-by-line
response to Sagay’s allegations. It is
important that the leadership of the
Senate provides additional information
that is lacking from the published budget
if it is ever going to satisfactorily clear
the air on the issues.”
“Continuing failure and/or refusal to
provide a line-by-line response to
Sagay’s allegations is counter-
productive. Although the issues of
transparency in the salaries and
allowances of members of the National
Assembly may seem like sensitive issues,
they are exactly the kind of issues the
Senate and House Representatives need
to urgently address and clarify if
Nigerians are ever to trust their
lawmakers.”
“As the 2017 National Assembly budget
does not appear to record all allowances
received by senators, it’s in the best
interest of the Senate to now publish a
line-by-line response to Sagay’s
allegations rather than simply providing
a blanket denial. If the Senate is
disputing Sagay’s figures on the salaries
and allowances of its members it should
at least provide what it considers to be
the current amounts, including on
‘hardship allowance’. One way the
Senate can do this is by moving swiftly
to publish details of senators’ payslips
and other relevant documents on the
salaries and allowances of members for
Nigerians to compare and judge.”
“In addition, we agree with the Senate
President that there are corruption
issues within the executive that need to
be fully and effectively addressed. But
the reality of corruption in the executive
branch of government doesn’t mean that
allegations of corruption in the National
Assembly especially as they relate to
budget padding and constituency
projects, should be minimised or
ignored. The leadership of the Senate
should have provided examples of how
the Senate is preventing corruption in
the budget process and initiatives like
constituency projects rather than
shifting the blame as to why corruption
is so pervasive in the implementation of
such projects.”
“Further, the Senate President’s call on
Nigerians to report to the Senate
allegations of corruption that directly
affect them or which they witness, is
warmly welcomed. We hope the Senate
will keep to its promise on this, and that
reports of corruption cases that
Nigerians bring to it will be objectively,
fairly and effectively addressed and that
any such process is completely
transparent. However, citizens may not
have the trust and confidence to
embrace the Senate Anti-Corruption
Reporting Mechanism until the
leadership satisfactorily addresses the
lingering doubts on the exact salaries
and allowances of its members.”
“The National Assembly is in a uniquely
strong position to act as a catalyst in the
fight against corruption. But the rhetoric
of the leadership of the Senate on
transparency and accountability needs
to be matched by reality.”
It would be recalled that Mr Bamikole
Omishore, the Special Adviser to Saraki
on New Media, had said on Sunday in
Abuja that he would contact SERAP and
other CSOs for a meeting to give more
details on the yearly earnings of
senators. Omishore said, “The attention
of the office of the President of the
Senate has been drawn to demand for
more details regarding the earnings of
senators of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria. Having released the breakdown
of the National Assembly budget, the
most comprehensive in the history of
Nigerian Senate, it seems the release of
pay slips is yet to clarify earnings of
Nigerian senators.
“The Senate President has agreed to a
roundtable with SERAP and other CSOs
to enlighten them and answer genuine
questions regarding the matter,” Mr.
Omishore also said.
Earlier, Mr. Sagay that had alleged that a
Nigerian Senator gets N29 million in
monthly pay. The details of the salaries
and allowances as provided by Mr. Sagay
are as follows: basic salary
N2,484,245.50; hardship allowance,
1,242, 122.70; constituency allowance
N4, 968, 509.00; furniture allowance N7,
452, 736.50; newspaper allowance N1,
242, 122.70. Others are: Wardrobe
allowance N621,061.37; recess allowance
N248, 424.55; accommodation
4,968,509.00; utilities N828,081.83;
domestic staff N1,863,184.12;
entertainment N828,081.83; personal
assistant N621,061.37; vehicle
maintenance allowance N1,863,184.12;
leave allowance N248,424.55; severance
gratuity N7, 425,736.50; and motor
vehicle allowance N9, 936,982.00.
Mr. Sagay’s allegations prompted SERAP
to write Saraki, stating that, “The ‘sky
will not fall’ if details of a Nigerian
Senator’s salaries and allowances are
published on a dedicated website. SERAP
believes that releasing the information
on salaries and allowances of members
of the Senate would encourage a
nuanced, evidence-based public debate
on what would or should be a fair salary
for a member of the Senate.”
The organisation said that, “It is by
making transparency a guiding principle
of the National Assembly that the Senate
can regainthe support of their
constituents and public trust, and
contribute to ending the country’s
damaging reputation for corruption.”
SERAP’s statement read in part:
“Transparency is a fundamental
attribute of democracy, a norm of
human rights, a tool to promote political
and economic prosperity and to curb
corruption. For the Senate, practising
transparency should start with the
leadership being open to Nigerians on
the salaries and allowances of
members.”
“SERAP strongly believes that it is by
knowing exactly how much their
lawmakers earn as salaries and
allowances that members of the National
Assembly can remain accountable to
Nigerians and our citizens can be
assured that neither fraud nor
government waste is concealed.” |
Re: Serap Meets With Saraki : Let Nigerians Know Your Salaries by bmxshop: 11:38am On Sep 22, 2017 |
Long thing. |
Re: Serap Meets With Saraki : Let Nigerians Know Your Salaries by teadrake(m): 1:02pm On Sep 22, 2017 |
Over the counter recommendation.
He won't disclose. |
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