Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba made the proposal in an interview with newmen in Abuja.
Ndoma-Egba took exception to the frequent bashing of the National Assembly as the cause of the overbloated recurrent expenditure of the Federal Government.
The Cross River Central lawmaker specifically said that the damning Sheik Ahmed Lemu report, which castigated members of the National Assembly for alleged flamboyant lifestyle at the expense of Nigerians was off the mark.
The Senate Leader, who described the report as “sensationalism, tokenism, scapegoatism and diversionary tactics”, noted that those who talk about jumbo pay for lawmakers forgot that the budget of the National Assembly is only N150 billion or three per cent of the country’s annual budget.
He insisted that the country should consider scrapping the parliament if that would assuage the “misinformed sentiment” some Nigerians have about the National Assembly.
Ndoma-Egba said his take-home pay after tax is between N900,000 and N600,000. The basic salary of a rank and file member of the US Congress is $174,000.
He wondered why anybody would accuse members of the National Assembly of flamboyance when he has only one car, unlike ministers who move about in a convoy of cars.
Ndoma-Egba said: “I have made a proposal that we should scrap the National Assembly and see how much we save.
“Like I said before, we lived without the National Assembly before. We lived without the National Assembly for 30 years. Let’s scrap it and see whether it will solve the problem.
“But I told you, even when the National Assembly did not exist, the cost of governance was an issue.”
The Senator said: “Let us put the cost of governance in perspective. First of all, you know, for the many years that we had the military rule the National Assembly did not exist.
“And in those 30 years, that the National Assembly did not exist, the cost of governance was still an issue.
“I remember I was commissioner under the military and one of the most topical issues was the cost of construction in Nigeria.
“It was said to be the highest in the world. This was when the National Assembly did not exist. The cost of governance was still an issue.”
Insisting that the cost of governance has nothing to do with the National Assembly, Ndoma-Egba said that Nigerians should pick the budget and do informed analysis of the fiscal policy.
He said: “Let us come to the figures. We have maintained a budget of N150billion in the last four or five years.
“That of the Judiciary has been dwindling, from N97billion four years ago to about N60billion.
“What has been the trend for the Executive? Has it been stagnant like the National Assembly or has it dwindled like the Judiciary?
“That of the Executive has continued to go up. Now, what is the ratio or the percentage of N150billion out of a national budget of approximately N4.8trillion, about three per cent.
“So, why do we have this fixation on three per cent of the budget and not on 97 per cent of the budget?
“Three per cent of the budget is getting 97 per cent attention and 97 per cent of the budget is getting three per cent attention.
“What is the fixation? And now the impression out there is that ‘oh you collect this N150 billion and just share it amongst members of the National Assembly.
“Nothing can be more fallacious because one, the N150 billion includes our capital; it includes recurrent; it includes the salaries of 109 Senators, 360 members of the House of Representatives, their aides – we have a maximum of six aides.
“It includes the salaries of the civil servants from the Clerk to the National Assembly to the Deputy Clerk, to the Clerk of Senate, Clerk of House and to all the civil servants here down to the lowest cleaner. It includes the salaries of the National Assembly Service Commission, from the Chairman through his Commissioners, down to the civil servants there to the lowest cleaner. It includes the salaries and allowances of the National Institute of Legislative Studies, from the Director General through the many Professors down to the cleaner.
“It includes our subscriptions to international parliamentary organisations.
“The total running cost of the National Assembly is that N150 billion out of a budget of N4.8trillion.”
Ndoma-Egba spoke about the cost to maintain the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). “Do we know? What does it cost to maintain a senior manager in NNPC? I am not talking of the Managing Director. Do we know?”
“What does it cost to maintain a senior manager in Petroleum Technology Development Fund? Do we know? What does it cost to maintain a senior manager in Central Bank of Nigeria? Do we know?
Good Expose. I expect the executive to also tell us how much they are spending. Having said that, our honorable senator should address the major issue we have with the national assembly which is inflating the budget every year. That, in my opinion is where Nigerians really have an issue, because we all know that the extra goes back to them and its a huge sum; much bigger that N150b.
ReplyDeleteHe should have come out with this much earlier. They kept silent and allowed the perception to grow. It almost impossible for anyone to believe this figures now.
ReplyDeleteThe number 1 problem that Nigeria faces is CORRUPTION! Corruption permeates through every fabric of the society, and nobody wants to address it or deal with it. Nigerian National Assembly is modeled after the United States Congress, but it is executed the Nigerian way, with plenty of corruption and lots of incompetence. Everybody traveling in a convoy and wasting the nation's resources, why? You don't see that in any developed country. All the years that I have lived in Washington, D.C. I am yet to see a Secretary of a Department (equivalent of a Nigerian Minister) travel in a convoy. I saw a washington D.C Police Chief in the bank one time, he was there by himself, and had driven himself to the bank unescorted. I met the Deputy Ambassador to the UN at the airport one time. Recognizing him I approached him and said hello to him and we chatted for a few minutes until it was time to board the flight. He was there by himself, with no entourage and no escorts. In Nigeria such a person would have 50 people in tow. What a nation!! We don't seem to recognize that Nigeria is a seriously defunct nation; we just want to live in opulence, pretending that all is well. The country needs a serious mental and attitude change, not just the urge to worship money.
ReplyDeleteThis man, Victor Ndoma-Egba is telling us that the cost of the Nigerian Senate and the House is 'only' 3% of the budget. That is still far far too much for a poor country like Nigeria.
ReplyDeleteThe British Parliament only cost £509 million in 2007/8. Considering that the British GDP is over $2400 Billion this makes the cost of governance is only 0.025% of GDP.
According to Mr Ndoma-Egba the cost of Nigerian Governance is $1 billion from a GDP of only $290 is 0.34% which when compared to the British is absolutely ridiculous. These people are supposed to be educated and he comes forward with figures that bears no comparison with decent international levels. These are greedy people who can't see they are milking the country dry at the expense of common hard working Nigerians.
Sources:
1. http://conservativehome.blogs.com/starchamber/2009/05/13-cut-the-cost-of-westminster-politics-by-200m.html
2.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-20_major_economies
I am amazed how we use percentage to confuse the masses of this country. National Assembly spends only 3 per cent of the total budget. Three per cent for how many people? Percentage of the total budgetary expenditure should be related to the number of people receiving the amount. If only 0.0005 per cent of the total population consumes 3 per cent of the total budget, then there is justification for the public outcry. Please let us use statistics appropriately.
ReplyDelete