Nigerian Senators, House Of Reps Members To “Earn” N71 billion In Illegal Allowances In 2012- Premium Times

*media reports have it that the senators just took delivery of their brand new suv’s purchased at N13 million each using the money of people who cannot eat 3 times in a day.

By ini Ekot
The illicit allowance is enough to
build a 450MW power plant for the
nation
Federal lawmakers’ self-assigned
hefty annual allowance, which totals
more than N70 billion this year,
would be sufficient to inject at least
a 450 Megawatt of power into the
national power grid, a cost analysis
by Premium Times has shown.
Put differently, that sum will
complete the dualization of one of
the nation’s deadliest highways –
the Abuja-Lokoja road – which,
relative to other highways across
the country, is well funded, but in
reality, remains one of the most
fund-starved projects.
In the 2012 budget, after years of
being abandoned, the four lots of
that road that leads from the federal
capital territory only received N2
billion apiece, a figure lower than
the presidency’s 2012 feeding cost
and the senate’s bill for new cars.
Both subheads cost N2.3 billion.
Beyond the cars, the lawmakers in
the senate and the House of
Representatives will this year
receive a total of about N71 billion
in self-allocated allowances, widely
considered illegal, and famously
branded, jumbo.
At an average $1 million
(N155million) per megawatt of
electricity,- a ratio considered
comparatively standard by experts –
that can provide extra power to the
tune of at least 450MW to a nation
shuddering under extreme power
shortage.
The illegal allowances for the year is
almost the amount the federal
government needs to fund the
Calabar power station, under the
National Independent Power Project
(NIPP).
Combined with the less than
200MW Ibom power plant in
neighbouring Akwa Ibom state, the
production value is expected to
adequately feed both states,
minimizing the operational cost of
the nation’s small scale businesses
from running a barbing saloon on
road sides to powering the
multibillion naira Tinapa project.
Despite claims they were reducing
their huge pay last year, Nigerian
senators currently draw a
scandalous N180 million illegal
allowance each annually, retaining
them as perhaps the world’s
highest paid lawmakers.
The amount, covering the four
quarters of the year at N45 million
apiece for each senator, is the
controversial “jumbo allowance”, an
outsized, self-apportioned
remuneration enjoyed by the
legislators.
It excludes their basic benefits like
salary – a far lesser figure -and
essential allowances approved by
the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation
and Fiscal Commission.
It also does not include allowances
and estacodes the senators draw
while on committee work within and
outside the country.
A member of the House of
Representatives also receives N36
million for the same benefit, while
the principal officers for the two
chambers are paid far higher
amount after every three months.
There are claims the amount may
have been recently reduced to N27
million, but lawmakers have not
backed up the claims.
A purported 63 per cent pay review
agreed to by a new session of the
National Assembly in 2011 to stem
public uproar stirred by corruption
charges involving former speaker,
Dimeji Bankole and deputy, Usman
Nafada, has hardly made a
significant difference.
An analysis of the lawmakers’ pay
structure shows that were such
reductions made, the margins were
small, with the members retaining
much of the privileges that
guaranteed them a leading spot on
the list of most expensive
lawmakers around the world.
Had that review been appropriately
done as claimed, a senator would
have earned N22.2 million as
quarterly allowance, while House
members would get N15.5 million
each.
But current “illicit” allowance stand
at N45 million for each senator, and
N36 million for each House member,
indicating a 25 per cent and 14.3
per cent cuts respectively,
according to lawmakers interviewed
by Premium Times.
Lawmakers loathe acknowledging
the package as part of their
earnings, and roundly reject the
public’s portrayal of it as an extra
illicit allowance, not approved by the
revenue commission. They claim the
“allowances” constitute the
“running costs” of their offices.
“When we said we were cutting
costs, we did not say we were
cutting our allowances, we said we
were cutting the running cost,” said
Victor Ogene, the deputy chairman
of the House of Reps committee on
media.
“Our earnings are quite clear, you
go to the Revenue Mobilization
Allocation and Fiscal Commission,”
he added, questioning “how can the
cost of say buying paper, or
entertaining a visitor be part of my
earnings?”
When pressed on the allowances,
lawmakers readily point to their
basic salary pay slip which, for the
House of Reps, averages only about
N445,000 monthly.
Mr. Ogene denied that House
members collect as much as N36
million although he would not
dispute provisions were made for
such quarterly earnings.
Whatever provisions were made, he
said, operated as a cash pool not
paid to members, but from where
claims can be made on expenses
incurred.
The lawmaker said the 63 per cent
cut reflected on members’ “running
cost” in 2011, while that of 2012
was yet unclear since the budget
was yet to be unapproved.
The senate spokesperson,
Enyinnaya Abaribe, did not respond
to several calls to his telephone.
For the 109 senators, the earnings
they have maintained amounts to
N19.6 billion a year, while N51.8
billion is spent for the house for the
same period, with a total cost of
N71.4 billion.
It adds to a string of cost the
national assembly keeps annually,
including hefty multi-billion payout
for the latest models of cars
reported by this website last week.