The Senator representing Kaduna Central District revealed that each member constituting the Senate is paid N13 million naira as salary and other fringe benefits.
Falana in reaction to the decision taken by the Senator aptly described it as a situation where he “blew the lid off federal legislators’ salary secrecy.”
According to the human rights lawyer, the disclosure has butressed the statement made by the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on Anti-Corruption (PACAC), Professor Itse Sagay who emphasised Nigerian lawmakers are the highest paid globally.
Falana expressed his displeasure over the deliberate efforts to replace Senator Sani and urged Nigerians to stand by the lawmaker and see to it that he is not persecuted for exercising his constitutional right to Freedom of Speech..
Illegal Salaries And Allowances
Read the full statement below:
In the current edition of The News magazine, Senator Shehu Sani made a disclosure which has serious implications for public accountability in Nigeria. Without mincing words, the Senator blew the lid off federal legislators’ salary secrecy.
For the first time since May 1999, the Senator disclosed the jumbo emoluments of the members of the upper chamber of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. According to the Senator, the running cost of each Senator is N13.1 million in addition to a consolidated salary of N750,000 per month.
Apart from the monthly package of N13.8 million, each Senator is given the opportunity to execute constituency projects to the tune of N200 million per annum. However, the disclosure made by Senator Sani does not cover the allowances for cars, housing, wardrobe, furniture etc running to several millions of Naira approved for each Senator.
Last year, the legislators also illegally purchased exotic cars of N4.7 billion for themselves when workers were owed arrears of salaries and the masses were groaning under a recession caused by the profligacy and mismanagement of the national economy by the ruling class.