Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project (SERAP) has confirmed that its representatives,
yesterday, met with the Senate President, Bukola Saraki to discuss issues
relating to details of annual salaries and allowances of lawmakers.
In a statement today by Timothy
Adewale, SERAP’s Deputy Director, the organization said that, “While we
appreciate the expresed commitment by Saraki to transparency and accountability
of the National Assembly, and the rare opportunity to dialogue with him, we
remain deeply concerned that the leadership of the Senate has unfortunately not
satisfactorily addressed the damaging allegations by Professor Itse Sagay,
Chairman Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC), that a
Nigerian Senator gets N29 million in monthly pay, and over N3 billion a year.”
According to the organization,
“There is an apparent discrepancy in some areas between what Saraki said at the
meeting and what the Senate is doing in practice to improve transparency of its
operations and accountability of members. For example, the Senate President’s
response to Sagay’s allegations was simply to refer SERAP to the National
Assembly budget for 2017, which is available on its website. However, a careful
study of the document shows that it contains only some general information and
not specific details that respond directly to allegations raised by Sagay.”
The statement reads in part: “The
meeting with Saraki raises more questions than it answers. The Senate budget on
its website is incomplete. The absence of specific details on salaries and
allowances of each senator not only makes analysis difficult, it also points to
underlying weaknesses in monitoring and transparency mechanisms.”
“Without including some level of
details, Nigerians may see the published National Assembly budget as nothing
more than window-dressing. SERAP hopes that the leadership of the Senate
doesn’t want this to be the case—and we certainly see no reason why it should
be the case. As we have noted, improved transparency on the exact salaries and
allowances of senators and indeed members of the House of Representatives is in
the interests of all.
“In SERAP’s view, rather than
referring us to the seemingly incomplete National Assembly budget, the Senate
President should have provided a line-by-line response to Sagay’s allegations.
It’s important that the leadership of the Senate provides additional
information that is lacking from the published budget if it is ever going to
satisfactorily clear the air on the issues.”
“Continuing failure and/or
refusal to provide a line-by-line response to Sagay’s allegations is
counter-productive. Although the issues of transparency in the salaries and allowances
of members of the National Assembly may seem like sensitive issues, they are
exactly the kind of issues the Senate and House Representatives need to
urgently address and clarify if Nigerians are ever to trust their lawmakers.”
“As the 2017 National Assembly
budget does not appear to record all allowances received by senators, it’s in
the best interest of the Senate to now publish a line-by-line response to
Sagay’s allegations rather than simply providing a blanket denial. If the
Senate is disputing Sagay’s figures on the salaries and allowances of its
members it should at least provide what it considers to be the current amounts,
including on ‘hardship allowance’. One way the Senate can do this is by moving
swiftly to publish details of senators’ payslips and other relevant documents
on the salaries and allowances of members for Nigerians to compare and judge.”
“In addition, we agree with the
Senate President that there are corruption issues within the executive that
need to be fully and effectively addressed. But the reality of corruption in
the executive branch of government doesn’t mean that allegations of corruption
in the National Assembly especially as they relate to budget padding and
constituency projects, should be minimized or ignored. The leadership of the
Senate should have provided examples of how the Senate is preventing corruption
in the budget process and initiatives like constituency projects rather than
shifting the blame as to why corruption is so pervasive in the implementation
of such projects.”
“Further, the Senate President’s
call on Nigerians to report to the Senate allegations of corruption that
directly affect them or which they witness, is warmly welcomed. We hope the
Senate will keep to its promise on this, and that reports of corruption cases
that Nigerians bring to it will be objectively, fairly and effectively
addressed and that any such process is completely transparent. However,
citizens may not have the trust and confidence to embrace the Senate
Anti-Corruption Reporting Mechanism until the leadership satisfactorily
addresses the lingering doubts on the exact salaries and allowances of its
members.”
“The National Assembly is in a
uniquely strong position to act as a catalyst in the fight against corruption.
But the rhetoric of the leadership of the Senate on transparency and
accountability needs to be matched by reality.”
It would be recalled that Mr Bamikole Omishore, the Special Adviser to Saraki
on New Media, had said on Sunday in Abuja that he would contact SERAP and other
CSOs for a meeting to give more details on the yearly earnings of senators.
Omishore said, “The attention of the office of the President of the Senate has
been drawn to demand for more details regarding the earnings of senators of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria. Having released the breakdown of the National
Assembly budget, the most comprehensive in the history of Nigerian Senate, it
seems the release of pay slips is yet to clarify earnings of Nigerian senators.
“The Senate President has agreed
to a roundtable with SERAP and other CSOs to enlighten them and answer genuine
questions regarding the matter,” Mr. Omishore also said.
Earlier, Professor Sagay had
alleged that a Nigerian Senator gets N29 million in monthly pay. The details of
the salaries and allowances as provided by Professor Sagay are as follows:
basic salary N2,484,245.50; hardship allowance, 1,242, 122.70; constituency
allowance N4, 968, 509.00; furniture allowance N7, 452, 736.50; newspaper
allowance N1, 242, 122.70. Others are: Wardrobe allowance N621,061.37; recess
allowance N248, 424.55; accommodation 4,968,509.00; utilities N828,081.83;
domestic staff N1,863,184.12; entertainment N828,081.83; personal assistant
N621,061.37; vehicle maintenance allowance N1,863,184.12; leave allowance N248,424.55;
severance gratuity N7, 425,736.50; and motor vehicle allowance N9, 936,982.00.
Sagay’s allegations prompted
SERAP to write Saraki, stating that, “The ‘sky will not fall’ if details of a
Nigerian Senator’s salaries and allowances are published on a dedicated
website. SERAP believes that releasing the information on salaries and
allowances of members of the Senate would encourage a nuanced, evidence-based
public debate on what would or should be a fair salary for a member of the
Senate.”
The organization said that, “It
is by making transparency a guiding principle of the National Assembly that the
Senate can regain the support of their constituents and public trust, and
contribute to ending the country’s damaging reputation for corruption.”
It said: “Transparency is a
fundamental attribute of democracy, a norm of human rights, a tool to promote
political and economic prosperity and to curb corruption. For the Senate,
practising transparency should start with the leadership being open to
Nigerians on the salaries and allowances of members.”
“SERAP strongly believes that it
is by knowing exactly how much their lawmakers earn as salaries and allowances
that members of the National Assembly can remain accountable to Nigerians and
our citizens can be assured that neither fraud nor government waste is
concealed.”
Signed
Timothy Adewale
SERAP deputy director
SERAP deputy director
It is immoral for the senators and Representatives to receive such humongous pay in an economy where poverty is pervasive and salaries of civil servants as well as pensions are not only miserable but hardly paid on time.
ReplyDeleteWe have looters rather than leaders in all arms of government. How can such an economy develop?
May the Almighty God be merciful on the masses and extricate us from the supremely exploitative and morally bankrupt political leadership.