No N9 billion wardrobe allowance for senators-Saraki

Kunle Awosiyan |

Senate President Bukola Saraki has said there would be no N9 billion wardrobe allowance for senator, going by the current economic challenges that the country is facing.

Saraki said this when the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation & Fiscal Commission Illiya D. Wanapia paid him a visit in his office on Wednesday.

He said, “ I have just being informed that RMFAC will be publishing details of allowances on their website and with the current challenges we are facing as a nation, RMFAC will be reviewing allowances to reflect the current economic trend.”

Fixing of remuneration of political office holders is sole responsibility of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation & fiscal Commission, Saraki stated.

The Senate President explained that the chairman of the commission was in my office to clarify wardrobe allowance, which was put at N506, 600 per Senator.

It will be recalled that the newly sworn in members of the National Assembly are set to receive a whooping sum of N8.64 billion as wardrobe allowance.

The N8.64 billion is apart from other allowances such as furniture, housing and vehicle, which the lawmakers are entitled to.

The wardrobe allowance translates to N17.5 million for each of the 360 members of the House of Representatives and N21.5 million for each of the 109 senators.

The wardrobe allowance, furniture and vehicle allowances will cover the entire four-year tenure of the 469 federal lawmakers, while their housing allowances are paid on a yearly basis.

Based on the approval of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the housing allowance for political office holders is usually 200 per cent of their annual salaries, the furniture allowance is 300 per cent of annual salaries, while a motor vehicle loan is pegged at 400 per cent of their annual salaries.

With the above, each of the 107 senators besides the Senate President and his deputy, will be paid N4, 052,800 as housing allowance. This sum will be paid to them every year, translating to N433, 649,600 as housing allowance to be paid to the Senate annually, while the Senate President and the Deputy Senate President will be provided accommodation by the federal government.

On the other hand, each member of the House of Representatives will be paid N3, 970,425 as housing allowance upon assumption of office.

This implies that the 358 representatives aside the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, will collect a total of N1, 421,412,150 as housing allowance. Like that of the Senate, the speaker and deputy speaker will be given accommodation by the federal government.