The Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, has said that the National Assembly Service Commission, NASS, should be held responsible for the running cost of N13.5m paid to each senator on monthly basis.
RMAFC spokesman, Ibrahim Mohammed, said in a statement that the approved remuneration of a senator for a month is N1.06m, adding that anything outside this payment was outside the law.
Senator Shehu Sani, a senator representing Kaduna Central constituency, had in a recent interview confirmed for the first time speculations and reports that each senator gets a jumbo pay of about N40m in a quarter of three months.
Specifically, Sani said that each senator receives N13.5m a month for running cost apart from salary and allowances. According to him, although the senator is not directed on how to spend the money, they are expected to ‘retire’ the payment.
Washing its hands off from the jumbo pay received by lawmakers, RMAFC said it was only the National Assembly Service Commission that should be held responsible for the jumbo pay, adding that it had become imperative for the commission (RMAFC) to give a clarification because the subject had remained in the public domain since Sani made the disclosure.
Mohammed said, “The law on salaries and allowances of public office holders is very clear and as such it is only the management of the National Assembly Service Commission that can explain the N13.5m running cost allegedly being enjoyed by each senator asthe Act only covers salaries and allowances but not running cost.
“A closer look at the monthly entitlement of senators reveals that each senator collects salary and allowances in the sum of N1,063,860:00 consisting of the following: basic-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-N422,166:66 respectively.
“It is instructive to note that some allowances are regular while others are non-regular. Regular allowances are paid regularly with basic salary while non-regular allowances are paid as at when due. Furniture allowance (N6,079,200:00) and severance gratuity (N6,079,200:00), for instance, are paid once in every tenure while motor vehicle loan (N8,105,600:00) is optional which the beneficiary has to offset before leaving office.”