Each serving senator received not less than N2
million as allowance before proceeding on seven
weeks of vacation, PREMIUM TIMES can report.
A senator who requested not to be named because he
was not authorised by the upper house to speak on
the matter confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that all the
109 senators were paid the allowance for the
holidays, which commenced on Monday and ends on
26 September.
A calculation done by PREMIUM TIMES showed that
the senators were paid a total of N218 million, having
received N2 million each to enjoy the vacation.
The bank alerts were received by the senators on 8
August, just before the Senate President, Godswill
Akpabio, announced it.
Announcing the largesse
Mr Akpabio, on Monday, told the senators that some
money had been credited to their accounts to enjoy
their holidays.
“In order to enable all of us to enjoy our holidays, a
token has been sent to our various accounts by the
Clerk of the National Assembly,” he said shortly after
screening and confirming the ministerial nominees.
The senate president was immediately informed by
his colleagues that he was speaking on live television.
Upon realising the seriousness of his remarks, he
quickly announced its withdrawal and rephrased his
statement, saying that the senate president sent
prayers to the mailboxes of the senators.
“I withdraw that statement. In order to allow you to
enjoy your holiday, the senate president has sent
prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a
safe journey and return.”
More for presiding officers?
It is not clear if the presiding officers, namely the
senate president and the deputy senate president,
also got N2 million each going by the difference in
salaries and allowances they earn and those of the
other senators in the remuneration package approved
by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal
Commission (RMAFC).
Also, it is expected that the principal officers would
earn higher allowances than their colleagues.
There are eight principal officers, with the majority
party, APC, having four and the minority, comprising
the six opposition parties, also having four.
The principal officers are the senate leader, deputy
senate leader, chief whip and deputy chief whip.
There are also minority leader, deputy minority
leader, minority whip and deputy minority whip.
Illegal “token” for senators
The N2 million allowance given to the senators is
illegal as no such provision is made in the
remuneration package approved by RMAFC, the body
authorised by law to prepare salaries and allowances
for public servants.
There is also no provision for “token” in the
commission’s document, as stated by Mr Akpabio
while announcing the largesse to the senators.
The lawmakers are, however, entitled to “recess”
allowance under the law, which is 10 per cent of the
annual basic salary of each legislator, and is paid
once a year.
According to the package prepared by RMAFC, a
senator earns N2,026,400 and therefore gets
N202,240 as a recess allowance per annum.
The basic salary of the senate president per annum is
N2,483,242, and therefore receives N248,424 as
recess allowance.
On his part, the deputy senate president earns
N2,309,166, and his recess allowance is N230,916.
N70bn “support ” for lawmakers’ working
conditions
There are speculations the N2 million each of the
senators got was drawn from the N70 billion
allocated to the National Assembly in the amended
2022 supplementary budget.
President Bola Tinubu had in June proposed the
allocation in the Supplementary budget “to support
the working conditions of new members.” It was
immediately approved by the lawmakers.
The fresh allocation came despite the huge allocation
of N228.1 billion to the National Assembly in the
2023 budget. The figure was an increase of about
N59.1 billion from N169 billion proposed by former
President Muhammadu Buhari in the budget.
Akpabio’s gaffes and public outrage on
Senators
The announcement by Mr Akpabio that senators had
been paid “a token” stirred anger and outrage from
Nigerians, considering the hardship many are going
through as a result of the removal of petroleum
subsidy.
Many Nigeriàns have also questioned the ability of
the Akpabio-led senate to fight corruption and assist
in developing the country’s economy.
But it was not the first time the senate president will
make such a gaffe.
Last month, he was filmed on live trivialising “Let
The Poor Breathe,” a phrase commonly used to
criticise the hardship Nigerians are currently going
through.
But in a statement, Mr Akpabio explained it was not
intentional to insult the people, adding that he was
not unaware of the hardship Nigerians were facing.
He said the motive behind “Let The Poor Breathe”
“was to firmly reject any plan of increasing electricity
tariffs for Nigerians, considering the ongoing
economic challenges that Nigerians are faced with.”
“We are deeply concerned about the negative tilting
of a very harmless statement by President of the
Senate, Godswill Akpabio, about his deep concern
and that of the Senate on the plight of the ordinary
Nigerians as a result of the prevailing economic
situation in the country,” the statement by the media
unit of the office of the Senate president

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/615656-nigerian-senators-illegally-share-n218-million-as-holidays-allowance.html

mynd44 oam4j lalasticlala seun nlfpmod

E pass this amount oooo

They say we should make sacrifices ontop 30k minimum wage.Majority of us don't even have a job.

Money they should have shared between the Elderly ,Orphans ,Widows and the disabled

Christistruth03:
Money they should have shared between the Elderly ,Orphans ,Widows and the disabled

Dey play

Be like them born you last night