Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with skyrocketing inflation, a national currency in free-fall and millions of people struggling to buy food
A Nigerian lawmaker representing Kano South, Senator Sumaila Kawu, has revealed that he earns over ₦21 million monthly as a total take-home package.
This revelation comes barely 24 hours after the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) said that each of the 109 senators in the upper chamber receives a total of N1.06m in salary and allowances per month.
RMFAC is a government agency, which is responsible for setting the remuneration of political office holders.
Mohammed Shehu, the chairman of RMAFC had said this as a form of clarification in response to recent controversies over the real amount each lawmaker earns per month.
Based on Mr Shehu’s disclosure, it would mean each lawmaker earns N12.72m in 12 months and the Federal Government makes a total expenditure of N1.4bn annually for all senators.
A breakdown of their monthly earnings revealed that each Senator collects a monthly salary and allowances of N1,063,860, consisting of a basic salary, N168,866:70; motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance allowance, N126,650:00; and personal assistant, N42,216:66.
Others include 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.
Mr Shehu had said in a statement: “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.
“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, Senator Kawu in an interview with BBC Hausa Service, on Wednesday morning disclosed that although his monthly salary is about N1m, but his total take-home was N21m, a wide margin from figures quoted by RMFAC.
“The amount of salary I receive per month is less than N1m, if there are cuts, it comes back to about six hundred thousand naira and a little something as salary,” the senator said.
He noted that there are usually a few deductions by the RMFAC.
The issue of the amount of money received by federal lawmakers stirred up fresh controversies since last week.
On Friday, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who was the country’s president between 1999 and 2007, chided federal lawmakers for fixing their salaries and emoluments.
He casted the blame while receiving in audience, six members of the House of Representatives, led by Ikenga UgoChinyere who visited him in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
During the parley, Obasanjo said, “In your case, with all due respect, you’re not supposed to fix your salaries. But you decide what you pay yourself, the allowances that you give yourselves (including) newspaper allowances.
“You give yourselves all sorts of things, and you know it is not right. It is immoral, (yet) you are doing it, the Senate is doing it, and you are beating your chests about it. In some cases, the executive gives you what you’re not entitled to. You all got N200 million (each).”
The former president had said: “So, the very beginning is ourselves, yes system, yes we have to rethink our democracy but the character of people in government must change. With all due respect, most of those in government should right now be behind bars or in gallows.”
Also, a former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, had once publicly disclosed that each Senator collects a monthly running cost of N13.5m in addition to the monthly N750,000 prescribed by the commission.
In a controversial revelation in 2018, Shehu Sani stated that no specifications were made for how the running costs should be spent when given to lawmakers.
Meanwhile, the Senate in a Statement on Sunday – refuted the claims by Mr Obasanjo, stating that they were lies.
Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with skyrocketing inflation, a national currency in free-fall and millions of people struggling to buy food. Only two years ago Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria is projected to drop to fourth place this year.
The pain is widespread. Unions strike to protest salaries of around $20 a month. People die in stampedes, desperate for free sacks of rice. Hospitals are overrun with women wracked by spasms from calcium deficiencies.
Although President Bola Tinubu increased the minimum wage — after strike action and months-long negotiations with labour unions — from N30,000 to N70,000, his government has increased spending for officials at a time of nationwide starvation.
For workers earning the new N70,000, or $43, per month minimum wage, capricious inflation and naira value have inflicted too much damage for the changes to make any difference in their lives.
The crisis is largely believed to be rooted in two major changes implemented by Mr Tinubu, elected 14 months ago: the partial removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the currency, which together have caused major price rises.
Last week, Amnesty International accused Nigerian security forces of killing at least 21 protesters during a week of economic hardship protests
Police and other security agencies clamped down on protests after thousands of people joined rallies against government policies and the high cost of living from August 1st to 10th. Protests have since dwindled significantly.
Security forces denied responsibility for deaths during the protests.
A nation of entrepreneurs, Nigeria’s more than 200 million citizens are skilled at managing in tough circumstances, without the services states usually provide. They generate their own electricity and source their own water. They take up arms and defend their communities when the armed forces cannot. They negotiate with armed kidnappers when family members are abducted.
But right now, their resourcefulness is being stretched to the limit.