Information reaching us has indicated that the national law makers in the Senate and House of Representatives may have guzzled about N13 Billion within two months after they were inaugurated on June 9 in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
It was gathered that since their inauguration in June, the two chambers have gone on recess three times even as they have not yet passed a bill.
It was gathered that the 109 senators have each got N36.4 million even as each of the 360 members of the House of Representatives carted home the sum of N25 Million.
The Senators and the representatives were said to have been first paid N10 Million each in June to ‘cushion’ the difficulty of settling down in Abuja. The amount, which was to cover their expenses on housing, transport and furniture, cost about N4.6 billion.
It was learnt that in July, under a pro-rata arrangement for quarterly allowance covering June, Senators were paid N13. 4 Million each, while members of the House of Reps received N7 million each.
Before going on break last Thursday, Senators were said to have received N13 million each while Reps members got N8 million each.
Last Wednesday, senators disagreed on the recommendation by the Finance Committee to cut their salary and allowances.
The James Manager-led committee had recommended a 30 percent cut which, if accepted, would have saved tax payers about N2 billion annually. This would have translated to N2 million reductions from the N51 million quarterly allowances enjoyed under the 7th Senate or about N874 million saved from each year’s four quarterly allowances alone.
The Representatives’ reduction of their quarterly allowances from N39 million to N33 million will save the nation about N2. 1 billion, made up of N6 million reduction in each member’s allowances over four quarters. [myad]
