On Friday, former President Olusegun Obasanjo took a swipe at the country’s federal legislative body.
The former president alleged that national assembly members fix their salaries and allowances.
“Look at your own case, with all due respect,” he said when he hosted some members of the house of representatives in Abeokuta, capital city of Ogun state.
“You are not supposed to fix your salaries or your allowances, it is supposed to be done by the RMAFC, but you decide what you pay yourselves, the allowances that you give yourselves – newspaper allowances, pant allowances – you give yourself all sorts of things with due respect and you know it is not right.
“It is not right for me to be the one to declare, determine what I pay myself. It is immoral and then you are doing it.
“The senate is doing it and in some cases the executive gives you what you are not entitled to. You all got N200 million.”
Obasanjo’s claim was widely reported across news platforms and elicited fresh anger against the federal lawmakers.
This prompted the senate to react on Sunday.
Yemi Adaramodu, spokesperson of the senate, described the former president’s claim as “uncharitable and satanic”.
VERIFYING THE CLAIM
TheCable checked the website of RMAFC where it found a document – “Remuneration Package for Political and Judicial Office Holders (2007 – 2009)”.
It was found out that the commission indeed fixes the salaries and allowances of members of both chambers of the national assembly.
The commission said the monthly salary and allowances of a senator amounted to N1,063,860.
A breakdown shows that a senator’s basic salary is N168,866, motor vehicle fueling and maintenance allowance of N126,650.00; personal assistant pay of N42,216.66; domestic staff 126,650.00 and entertainment, N50,660.00.
Other benefits include utilities, N50,660.00; newspapers/periodicals N25,330.00; wardrobe allowance, N42,216,66.00; house maintenance, N8,443.33.00 and constituency allowance, N422,166.66.
The monthly salary and allowances of a house of representatives member was fixed at N794,086.
A breakdown shows that a representative’s basic salary is N165,434, motor vehicle fueling and maintenance allowance of N124,075, personal assistant pay of N41,358, domestic staff 124,075 and entertainment, N49,630.
Other benefits include: utilities, N49,630; newspapers/periodicals N25,330.00; wardrobe allowance, N41,358; house maintenance, N8,271 and constituency allowance, N165,434.
VERDICT
The claim that national assembly members fix their salaries and allowances is incorrect.
However, national assembly members receive other allowances like “running costs” that accrue to them monthly, and which is not determined by RMAFC.
In 2018, Shehu Sani, a former senator who represented Kaduna central, said he received N13.5 million as running costs monthly.
