Nigerians Protest as 9th National Assembly set to Receive N4.68bn Welcome Package

News has it that the four hundred and sixty-nine lawmakers who constitute the 9^th National Assembly in the Nigerian Parliament will now receive  a whopping sum of  N4.68bn as welcome package immediately after their inauguration in June.

The package is to help the lawmakers sort out accommodation and furniture issues.

According to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, accommodation and furniture allowances are two of the irregular entitlements of lawmakers and other political office holders.

While accommodation is paid once every year, furniture allowance is paid once in four years.

Each member of the House of Representatives on resumption, therefore, is entitled to N9.926, 062.5, according to the prescription of the RMAFC in its Remuneration Package for Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders 2007 to Date.

This is the summation of furniture allowance of N5,955,637.5 and accommodation allowance of N3, 970,425 which a House of Representatives member is entitled to.

Therefore, the 360 lawmakers that will make up the House of Representatives to be inaugurated in June will be entitled to accommodation and furniture allowances of N3.57bn.

On the other hand, each senator is entitled to a combined furniture and accommodation allowance of N10,132,000 on assumption of office. While the accommodation allowance of a senator is N4,052,800, the furniture allowance is N6,079,200.

But a former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, has called on Nigerians to wage war against members of the 9th National Assembly and demand that they cut their salaries and allowances.

He said there was no way the country could sustain the type of money being received by the lawmakers.

Musa said that the situation had gone beyond appeal, saying begging the lawmakers to reason that the economic reality could not sustain such huge pay would not yield any positive result.

Also, a non-governmental organisation, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has frowned on the lawmakers’ huge pay, saying it was one of the reasons the nation’s growth had remain stunted.

In an interview with newsmen, SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oludare, said, “The proposed payment to the incoming legislators is another example of financial profligacy that has stunted our growth as a nation.