By Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has reacted to widespread misconceptions about the earnings of the members of the National Assembly.
Speaking on Monday at the Distinguished Parliamentarians Lecture organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) in Abuja, Lawan disclosed that the total salary of a senator is about N1.5 million and N1.3 million for a member of the House of Representatives.
“The quarterly office allowance for legislators is what is erroneously conflicted with a monthly income to create confusion and mislead Nigerians.
“The average office running cost for a senator is about N13m while that of a member of the House of Representatives is N8m,” he said.
He said the N13m and the N8m quarterly office-running cost for a member of the Senate and House of Representatives respectively, were the lowest of any presidential democracy in the world.
The allowances as enumerated by him, cover costs of local/international travel, consulting of professional services, medical services, office stationeries/computers, consumables, books, newspapers, magazines, maintenance of motor vehicles and office equipment among others.
The Senate President also noted that the budget of the National Assembly since 1999 has never gone above N150 billion, which accounts for about three per cent of the yearly budget.
Recall that former Kaduna State lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani sometime in 2018 had revealed that lawmakers in the upper legislative chamber receive N13.5 million for running cost.
