Take-Home Pay: Senator Sumaila Kawu’s Assertions Incorrect, Misleading –Senate Spokesman
The Senate has submitted that the assertion made by Senator Sumaila Kawu of Kano South in respect of the take-home package for the senators is incorrect and misleading.
Recall that Kawu had on Wednesday made a disclosure that made the National Assembly to continue to be in the spotlight.
The Senator , who is a member of the NNPP, had submitted in an interview with the British Broadcasting Hausa Service that although his monthly salary is about N1million,his total ‘take-home package’ is however N21million.
‘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’ Kawu said while noting that there are usually a few deductions by the RMFAC.
‘Given the increase effected, in the Senate, each senator gets N21 million every month as running cost’ Senator Sumaila added.
Recall also that the national Assembly has received a lot of public attention since questions were raised about the take-home pay of the federal lawmakers.
The National Assembly comprises 109 senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives.
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo had also made comments about the salary and allowances of the federal lawmakers last week submitting that it is wrong and absurd that they are allowed to determine their salary and allowances .
‘You are not supposed to fix your salary or allowances; it is supposed to be done by the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Responsibility Commission.
With all due respect, you know it’s not right; it is not right for me to be the one to determine what I pay myself; it is immoral, and you are doing it; the Senate is doing it’ Obasanjo had submitted.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned that spokesman for the senate, Senator Yemi Adaramodu however made clarifications in a statement he issued on Thursday that running costs are different from the salary and personal allowances of lawmakers, which the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission determines.
Adaramodu ,who noted that it is not only the legislature that enjoys provisions for running costs which the lawmakers use for the operation of their offices , also added that ‘such funds are retired by relevant officers after being used for official purposes and proof of genuine expenditure’.
‘It’s not a personal allowance or salary of the legislator’ he said.
Adaramodu also stated the commitment of the senate to breathing life into the nation’s political and socio-economic dry bones noting that the senators have not given priority to monetary gain.
‘The Nigerian Senate is an Assembly of accomplished and successful professionals, administrators, and captains of industry, who are not driven by these often touted egregious pecuniary bits, but rather by their patriotic zeal in the nation’s quest to breathe life into Nigeria’s political and socio-economic dry bones.
For the umpteenth time, the Senate is compelled to respond to obsolete allegations of phantom salaries and personal emoluments spuriously credited to Senators monthly.
The Revenue Mobilization Fiscal Allocation Commission, the agency of government that fixes political officials’ salaries and allowances, has duly disclosed the monthly personal take-home of Senators.”
However, all arms of government and their personnel—governors, ministers, permanent secretaries, Directors-General, state commissioners, and even boards and parastatals, including local government councils—run their activities with running costs, and the National Assembly is no exception.
The funds referred to by Senator Kawu Sumaila are neither his salary nor personal allowance.
These funds are allocated for the daily operation of Senators’ offices and other statutory officials. They also provide for constituency office staff, oversight functions, and community engagements.
These funds are not static; they are provided for in the annual budget and must be retired with proof of genuine expenditure. They are not personal allowances or salaries for legislators.
The National Assembly receives about 1% of the federal budget and has never exceeded this, even in times of widespread financial constraints. The Nigerian Senate is an Assembly of accomplished professionals, administrators, and industry leaders, who are motivated by patriotic zeal, not by financial gain’ he submitted-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you
