As protests against economic hardship rock major cities across Nigeria, with many clamouring for cuts in governance costs, House of Representatives Deputy speaker Benjamin Kalu says lawmakers’ salaries are too small for their job.
“Talking about the salaries of the National Assembly, it is a far cry from what it is supposed to be,” Mr Kalu said in an interview with Channels TV on Monday night.
“At the moment, talking about the salary of the National Assembly. I have said this over and again: it is not as much as people think. Salary is different from allowance, which is meant to do the jobs our constituents have sent us to do,” he added.
Mr Kalu said considering prevailing inflation and rising cost of living, lawmakers’ salaries can no longer take them home or help them deliver their constitutional role.
“I can assure you that based on economic indices at the moment, inflation rate and the rest of them, the amount members of the National Assembly receive cannot actually take them home to do their jobs in their various constituencies.
“Considering the cost of transport, running constituency offices and the number of maintaining aides who are supposed to have you achieve what the mandate of that office demands, it is not a discussion that will add value to the crisis we are faced with,” Mr Kalu said.
Salaries and allowances earned by Nigerian National Assembly members have remained opaque to the public.
In 2018, former Senator Shehu Sani revealed that besides N750,000 salaries, he and other lawmakers receive N13.5 million monthly running costs, sparking public outrage.
Explaining why he revealed the jumbo pay lawmakers earn in an interview with BBC, Mr Sani said, “The National Assembly is one of the most non-transparent organs of government. It pricked my conscience, and I decided to burst the bubble and open the National Assembly to public scrutiny.
“If the expenses payment system were ended, then parliament would only be attractive to people who contribute ideas.”
Since Mr Sani’s statement, clamour for lawmakers’ salaries review has intensified, with many Nigerians calling for a reduction of their salaries and allowances.