Ahmad Lawan and Bukola Saraki
The Chairman of Revenue Mobilisation and
Fiscal Allocation Commission, Mr. Elias Mbam, said on Wednesday that
each senator earns a yearly sum of N506, 600, per annum, as wardrobe
allowance.
Mbam, who paid a courtesy visit to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, in his office, said wardrobe
allowance was designed for public officers in order to assist them to dress properly.
He said the money, which was 25 per cent of their basic salaries, did not include housing and other allowances.
He said, “It is 25 per cent of the basic
salary for senators and if you apply that, every senator will receive
N506, 600 per annum. House of Representatives members receive less but I
don’t have the figure. It is less than that.
“Certainly
there are other allowances. There is utility allowance, there is
Housing, there is entertainment allowance and at the end of the service,
there is severance allowance.”
Mbam said that his agency would soon
carry out a downward review of the allowances of lawmakers due to
parameters such as the state of the economy, rate of inflation, capacity
to pay, and the reality of the day.
He said, “The commission is currently
reviewing the 2008 Remuneration Act and hopefully we expect it will be
ready by the end of the third quarter and once we are ready, we will
make it public and of course, present it to the National Assembly.”
He pledged that his agency would soon
publish a comprehensive list of the allowances accruable to public
officers including the lawmakers, on its website to avoid
misinformation.
Saraki seized the occasion to warn
government agencies which were not remitting Federal Government’s
revenue to the Federation Account to desist because the current
administration would no longer condone such act.
He noted that non-compliance by agencies of government to remit revenue had brought major setback to governance.
He said the Senate would offer necessary
support to punish any erring agency that indulges in diverting
government revenue to illegal channels.
He said, “Monetary revenue and
allocation is a serious challenge to our economy. Though,
diversification of economy is very important, it’s not an overnight
issue. We must block every leakage in government revenue.
“We made campaign promises to Nigerians
and we must fulfill all our pledges. It cannot be business as usual. We
will do everything within our capacity to elevate the living standard of
Nigerians.”
Saraki also said that the N8.64bn bogus wardrobe allowance to lawmakers reported in the media was not correct.
Copyright PUNCH.
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