Saraki, Mark, Akpabio, 214 Lawmakers To Get N1.3bn Severance Allowance
Senate President Bukola Saraki and 216 lawmakers not re-elected in the recent National Assembly elections are to receive severance allowances amounting to N1.3bn, investigation has shown.
Some of the lawmakers did not seek re-election; some lost the nomination of their parties while some lost the National Assembly elections.
According to a document, Remuneration Package for Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders 2008, a non-returning senator is entitled to a severance allowance of N6,079,200. The severance allowance of a Senate President is N7,452,727.50.
On the other hand, a non-returning member of the House of Representatives is entitled to N5,955,637.5.
Severance allowance is one of the irregular allowances that are paid to lawmakers. The irregular allowances are not paid on a monthly basis. They are housing allowance, 200 per cent of their annual salaries; furniture allowance, 300 per cent; recess allowance, 10 per cent and severance allowance, 300 per cent.
Housing allowance is paid once a year; furniture allowance is paid once in four years; and recess allowance is paid when the lawmakers are on recess and they go on recess four times in a year. Severance allowance is at the end of the four-year tenure.
The housing allowance of a senator is N4,053,800; and the furniture allowance is N6,079,200. The recess allowance climbs to N810, 560 if they go on recess four times a year. The severance allowance is N6,079,200.
There are other allowances that the lawmakers are not paid directly but provided and paid by the government. These are special assistants, security and legislative aides.
What this means is that those engaged in these capacities are paid directly by the government as the allowances cannot be claimed by political office holders. These allowances apply to senators and Reps.
Medical expenses are also undertaken by the government when they have a need for the services.
The lawmakers are also entitled to tour duty allowance, estacode (when they travel). For a senator, the tour duty allowance is N37,000 per night; the estacode is $950 per night.
There had been attempts to review the allowances of lawmakers, which some Nigerians consider as outsized compared to the nation’s economic situation.
However, each attempt made by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission to review the allowances had never worked out.