Shehu Sani, a former Nigerian lawmaker, says he is vindicated after Senator Sumaila Kawu admitted that he receives N21 million monthly as salary and allowances.
Sani, who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District, had earlier claimed that each Senator in the 9th National Assembly collected a monthly running cost of ₦13.5 million in addition to a ₦750,000 salary.
Reacting to Kawu’s revelation, Sani took to X to write: “Yesterday, the RMFAC refuted my statement but I’m vindicated by Senator Kawu Sumaila who confirmed that the monthly alert is N21 million and not N1 million.
“RMFAC make una mind yourself.”
As a confirmation, a Nigerian Senator, Sumaila Kawu said his monthly salary is about N1 million and that by the time deductions are made it hovers around N600,000 monthly.
The lawmaker, in an interview with BBC Hausa Service, said allowances and other exigencies inclduing his total take-home amounts to N21 million.
According to him, this serves as funds needed for the running cost of his office as a Senator.
The lawmaker also stated that the few deductions on his salary are done by the RMFAC.
A member of the 10th Senate and Senator representing Kano South senatorial district of Kano State on the platform of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila revealed that he earns approximately N21 million monthly in salary and allowances.
He described the allegation of former President Olusegun Obasanjo that members of the National Assembly fix bogus salaries and allowances for themselves as false.
He said that the official pay package was fixed by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) – the body empowered by law to fix salaries and allowances of political office-holders.
The Senator said, “My monthly salary is less than N1million. After deductions, the figure comes down to a little over N600,000.
He added that: “Given the increase effected in the Senate, each Senator gets N21 million every month as running cost.”
The controversy surrounding the salaries of the lawmakers started after former President Olusegun Obasanjo alleged that members of the National Assembly fixed their salaries.
Obasanjo also said that the present a crop of lawmakers are being bribed by the executive.
SaharaReporters on Tuesday reported how Nigeria’s Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) revealed that each senator earns a total of N1,063,860 as monthly salary and allowances.
The breakdown of these earnings, according to the commission, shows that each of the 109 senators earns Basic Salary of N168,866.70; Motor Vehicle Fuelling and Maintenance Allowance, ₦126,650.00; Personal Assistant, ₦42,216.66; Domestic Staff, ₦126,650.00; Entertainment, ₦50,660.00; Utilities, ₦50,660.00; Newspapers/Periodicals, ₦25,330.00; Wardrobe, ₦42,216.66; House Maintenance: ₦8,443.33 and Constituency Allowance: ₦422,166.66.
The chairman of RMAFC, M.B. Shehu made the revelation on Tuesday in response to claims made by former Senator Shehu Sani.
Though he noted that the National Assembly is addressing this issue, Shehu agreed that the commission lacks the constitutional authority to enforce adherence to the remuneration guidelines,.
