Foundation for Investigative Journalism
Members of Nigeria’s House of Representatives earn significantly more than the N600,000 they quoted at the plenary session where they agreed to donate half of their monthly salaries, according to Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ).
During a plenary session on July 18, the House of Representatives pledged to donate half of their monthly salaries for six months to combat hunger in Nigeria.
The lawmakers had said they earned N600,000 monthly and promised to release N300,000 each to support the Federal Government’s economic recovery efforts.
However, FIJ has found evidence confirming that lawmakers earn more than they claimed while making the pledge.
The Revenue Mobilisation Fiscal Commission (RMFAC), which is responsible for setting the remuneration of political office holders, pegs the salaries of lawmakers at N794,086 monthly.
Also, a Channels Television interview with Uzokwe Ifeanyi on Thursday disproved the N600,000 claim. The lawmaker representing Nnewi South Federal Constituency revealed a screengrab of his July salary notification, revealing that a member of the House of Representatives earns N936,979.53 monthly.
If lawmakers donate 50% of this amount, they would be contributing about N168.7 million monthly and would have donated approximately N1 billion to fight hunger over six months.
BEYOND THE BASIC SALARIES OF THE REPS
Nigerian lawmakers receive substantial sums beyond their basic salaries every month. According to the RMFAC, each lawmaker is entitled to an accommodation allowance worth 200% of their basic salary, a furniture allowance of 300%, and additional benefits such as severance packages, medical allowances, recess allowances, and duty tour allowances.
If the RMFAC figures are anything to go by, lawmakers are entitled to extra allowances of about N5.9 million on a “to-be-processed” basis.
Beyond salaries and allowances, lawmakers receive millions of naira monthly as “running costs”. Several lawmakers, including Ahmed Lawan, the former Senate President, have pegged the monthly running cost at about N8.5 million.
In a controversial revelation in 2018, Shehu Sani, a former senator from Kaduna Central Senatorial District, stated that no specifications were made for how the running costs should be spent when given to lawmakers.
Meanwhile, on Monday, FIJ reported the House of Representatives’ inability to confirm if they had begun donating half of their salaries to fight hunger as promised. When asked about the implementation during the Channels interview on Thursday, Ifeanyi said lawmakers would start the donations in August, noting that the decision was only approved in July.
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