By Suleiman Umaru and Lateef Adegite
Barely 14 years after Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, a one-time governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, during the Administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan and now reinstalled as he Emir of Kano, had accused the National Assembly, Lawmakers of spending constituted 25% of the overhead of the country’s yearly budgetary provisions, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission , RMAFC, under the Chairman ship of Mohammed Bello Shehu , speaks out.
The RMAFC, may have bowed pressure from Take It Back Movement, organisers of End Bad Governance against hunger and hardship protests linked to Omoyele sowere, an Activist and former Presidential Candidate of Africcan Action Congress, AAC, in the last February 25, 202, general elections and other Nigerians in dispora, currently on the watch list of the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, to clear the air on the Federal Lawmakers monthly salaries and allowances.
Given the tension and hardship in the country while the Lawmakers at the state and Federal levels feed fat may have informed why there have been calls on President Bola Ahmd Tinubu, led ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, Government to slash the monthly salaries and allowance of the Lawmakers to reduce the pressure on the country’s lean yearly budgetary provision.
The Leadership of RMAFC, had revealed that each of the 109 Senators occupying Legislative Seats in the red chamber monthly take home pay is N1,063,860.00. Given a breakdown of the monthly salary an allowance s of each Senator , the Commision had said that the Basic salary alone is N168,866.0, Vehicle fueling and maintenance allowance, N126,5.00, House Maintenance, N8,443,33.00, and Constituency allowance N422,166,66.00,
This may have informed why Godswill Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom state and noew Senate President’s North West Senatorial districted comprising of Abak, Essien, Etim Ekpo, Ika, Ikono, Ikot Epene, Ini and Obot, including Oruk Anam and Ukanafun , Local Government Areas, , had been allocated a mouth watery sum of N4.142 billion for Constituency projects that never see never see he light of the day , in the 2024 Fiscal budge.
xOther entitlements of the Senators as revealed by the Leadership of RMAFC, include Entertainment allowance of N50,660.00, Utilities, N50,660.00. Newspapers and periodicals, N25,30.00, Wardrobe allowance, N42,216,66.00, , Personal Assistant, N42,216,66.00 and Domestic staff, N126,650.00.
. Senator Shehu Sani, who has joined the ranks of Sanusi, 111, the Emir of Kano, may have pushed the Leadership of the RMAFC, to the wall to speak out on the Federal Lawmakers monthly salaries and allowances when he said recently running cost of that each Senator , collects a monthly N13.5 Million running costs that was said to have bee prescribed by the Commission. This is in addition to the N50,000.00 that was said to have also been prescribed by the RMAFC, Authorities.
The Kaduna state born politician could have at his fingertips what each Senator receives in the red chamber as monthly running cost monthly as a former member of the upper Legislative Hose.
Although, the RMAFC, Chairman , had said that some of the allowance paid to the Federal Lawmakers are regular which are with the basic salary and others are non-regular , which are paid a when due, Nigerian would nor tacit.
, The question on the lips of most people was it took the agency too long a time to speak out on the Federal Lawmakers monthly salaries and allowance if Senator had had exposed how the National Assembly Lawmakers drain the nation’s economy out of their own selfish interest.
Until Senator Sani dropped the bombshell about the monthly take home pay of each Senator , including monthly running costs and an N50,00, there have been rumours making the rounds that the Nigerian Llawmakers are one of the highest paid in the despite the poor state of the economy.
He had said that the RMAFC, Leadership, had been handicapped to deliver on its mandate because it does not have the powers to enforce compliance with the proper implementation of the remuneration package of the Federal Lawmakers which gives them the audacity Lawmakers the l to fix their own salary and allowances as they want without taking into consideration the state of the nation’s economy, believing that the President and his Federal Executive members would do nothing about it to ensure that Eecutive Bills and other Bills presented to the House from the Presidency are passed with easy .
It was not surprising why Godswill Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom state have passed all the Executive Bills of the Nigerian President presented to the House with little or no debate.
FFormer President Olusegun Obasano, was said to have made moves to ensure that the Federal Lawmakers what was prescribed by the RMAFC, as their salaries and allowances, while still in office but the Lawmakers had battled him to a standstill.
The Hose may have known that Nigerians are aggrieved over the hunger and hardship in the country which is like to time bomb that could explode at any given time if not properly that tackled that members were said to have agreed to sacrifice , their salaries by 50% for the next months to support the Nigerian government to provide stomach infrastructure amid the hardship in the land .
The rot in the nation’s governance system may have encouraged Obasanjo, who had served the country as a military Head of Stated and elected Civilian President, to say that most of those occupying public offices in Nigeria, who lack the character to lead the country should be behind bars or even gallows as a deterrence to other future leaders.
An aggrieved former President Obasanjo who had received some six members of the House of Representatives , who are co-sponsors of bills on a single term of six year, rotational of Presidency between the north and south as well as rotation of governorship slot among the three Senatorial districts of each of the 36 states of the Federation had said that most of the country’s elected Leader between 199 and now ‘’lack character and quality’’. He was emphatic that until Nigerian elected Leaders ‘’change their mentality of looting, the country can neve see the desire change’’.
In spite of the fact that the Ogun state born former Nigerian President and Farmer, of international repute, had said that most Nigerian Leaders lack character and quality, Abdurahman Abdulrazaq, governor of north central state of Kwara, in office. had said that Council of state had passed a vote of confidence in President Tinubu over his outsanding achievemts in the last one year .
Those who were said to have attended the meeting physically ere former Presidents onathan, Muhammadu Buhari, whose Administration threw the country into eight years of darkness while Yakubu Gowon and Abulsalami Abubakar , both retired Army General and former Heads of state were said to have oined the meeting virtually.
Others at the Council of state meeting that were said to have passed a vote of confidence on Tinubu, were the state governors and some deputies, who were said to have represented their state governors who were said to be on vacation, Chief Justices of Nigeria, both past and present, George Akume, Secretary to Government of the Federation and Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser, NSA.
Dele Alake, minister of Solid Minerals Development, and Kwara state governor, Abdulrasaq, may have taken advantage of the all-important council of state meeting to brief state House Correspondents about the Take It Back Movement organized End Bad Governance against hunger and hardship this month of August, stressing that ‘’it was a disguised attempt at disrupting the activities of the present Administration by enemies of state who were clamouring for an unconstitutional change of Government but had failed woefully as the military had thrown their weight on Tinubu’s Administration and ready to defend the country’s democracy with the last drop of their blood, as reportedly said by Vice Admiral Emmanuel Oggalla, Chief of Naval Staff, CNS.
