I earn N21 million allowances every month as against RMAFC figures of N1,063,860— Senator Abdurrahman Sumailia

Disclosure by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) that Senators earn N1,063,860 monthly as salary plus allowances – which was hardly believable from the get go because of previous figures in the public domain – has been rubbished within 24 hours by a member of the Upper Chamber who confirmed earning more than N21 million a month.

Senator Abdurrahman Sumaila (NNPP, Kano South) announced he earns N21 million in allowances per month apart from his salary of about N1 million to contradict the claim by RMAFC Chairman Muhammed Shehu.

Members of the House of Representatives earlier this year admitted to earning N600,000 per month. And the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has calculated the monthly take home of each Senator to be about N30 million.

Former Senator Shehu Sani had previously disclosed publicly that each Senator collects monthly running cost of N13.5 million in addition to the monthly N750,000 prescribed by the RMAFC.

So, for Mohammed Shehu to claim to clarify in a statement on August 13 that Senators get paid salary plus allowances of N1,063,860 per month is suspect, especially giving public knowledge that federal lawmakers have for years broken the law to fix their own salary and allowances, bypassing the job of the RMAFC which is statutorily empowered to determine the emoluments of public officers.

The new furore was kicked off last week by former President Olusegun Obasanjo who argued that it is unconstitutional and immoral for federal lawmakers to fix huge salaries and allowances for themselves in contravention of the law.

In his riposte on Tuesday, Shehu claimed Senators get paid a total N1,063,860 in salary and allowances, explaining some allowances are regular and others non-regular.

He said regular allowances are paid regularly with basic salary while non-regular allowances are paid as and when due. For examples, he added, furniture allowance (N6,079,200 million) and severance gratuity (N6,079,200 million) are paid once in every tenure and vehicle allowance (N8,105,600 million), which is optional, is a loan the beneficiary has to pay before leaving office.

His words: “Each Senator collects a monthly salary and allowances of the sum of N1,063,860:00 consisting of the following: Basic Salary N168,866:70; Motor Vehicle Fuelling and Maintenance Allowance N126,650:00; Personal Assistant N42,216:66; Domestic Staff-126,650:00; Entertainment-N50,660:00; Utilities-N50,660:00; Newspapers/Periodicals-N25,330:00; Wardrobe N42,216,66:00; House Maintenance N8,443.33:00 and Constituency Allowance N422,166:66; respectively.”

Sumaila told BBC Hausa this morning that Senator’s salary was fixed by the RMAFC.

“My monthly salary is less than N1 million. After deductions, the figure comes down to a little over N600,000 …. Given the increase effected, in the Senate, each Senator gets N21 million every month as running cost,” he said.

Shehu added in his statement on Tuesday that with the exception of a few political and public office holders such as the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representative, among others, all public and legislative officers are no longer provided with housing as was the case in the past.

“The Commission also wishes to use this opportunity to state that any allegation regarding other allowance(s) being enjoyed by any political, public office holder outside those provided in the Remuneration (Amendment) Act, 2008 should be explained by the person who made the allegation,” he stressed.

“To avoid misinformation and misrepresentation of facts capable of misleading citizens and members of the International Community, the Commission considers it most appropriate and necessary to request Nigerians and any other interested party to avail themselves of the opportunity to access the actual details of the present Remuneration package for Political, Public and Judicial Office holders in Nigeria published on its website: www.rmafc.gov.ng.”

However, Shehu lamented the RMAFC lacks the constitutional power to enforce compliance with proper implementation of official remuneration package, a lacuna he said is now being addressed by the National Assembly.