I get ₦21 million monthly for office costs, says Kano Senator
Lawmaker representing Kano South, Senator Sumaila Kawu, has revealed that he receives over ₦21 million monthly as a total take-home package.
In an interview with newsmen, Kawu said that while the official salary of ₦1 million fixed by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) is reduced to around ₦600,000 after deductions, other allowances bring the total monthly pay to ₦21 million.
He spoke 24 hours after the RMAFC, the body legally responsible for fixing the salaries and allowances of political officeholders, claimed that each of the 109 senators in the upper chamber receives a total of ₦1.06 million in salary and allowances per month.
RMAFC Chairman Mohammed Shehu provided this clarification in response to recent controversies over the actual amount each lawmaker earns monthly.
However, in his interview with journalists, Kawu stated, “The official salary received per month is less than ₦1 million. After deductions, it amounts to about ₦600,000. In the Senate, each senator is allocated ₦21 million monthly for running their office.”
The lawmaker explained that the allowances include costs for office operations, newspapers, local travel, and other expenses.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had stirred controversy by criticizing National Assembly members over their allowances. He made these comments in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while receiving House of Representatives members led by Ikenga Ugochinyere.
“In your case, with all due respect, you’re not supposed to set your own salaries. Yet, you decide what you pay yourselves, including allowances for newspapers.
“You grant yourselves all sorts of allowances, and you know it is not right. It is immoral, but you continue to do it, and the Senate boasts about it. In some cases, the executive even gives you what you’re not entitled to. You all received ₦200 million each.”
The lawmakers responded by stating that the RMAFC is responsible for setting their allowances.
The allowances of federal lawmakers have been controversial, with former Kaduna Central Senator Shehu Sani disclosing that, during the 8th Senate (2015-2019), each senator received a monthly running cost of ₦13.5 million in addition to the ₦750,000 prescribed by the commission.
Proofreading by Uchechi Ojo, Sub-editor at Neptune Prime.
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