The Nigeria Senators’ salary and allowance is a controversial one as they are the highest paid public officials in Nigeria. In this post, we shall look at the breakdowns of the current salaries of the Nigerian Senators.
The Nigerian Senators and members of the House of Representatives are allegedly the highest paid lawmakers in the entire world. Also check out: Nigeria Governor’s Salary and Allowance.
There are 109 Senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives. As regards to how much the Nigerian Senators earn, many people have argued that the work of the Nigerian lawmakers do not warrant the inflated high pay they take home.
For instance, in the United State of America, a Senator earns about $174,000 per year, while in the United Kingdom, a Member of parliament earns about $64,000 per year.
But in a poverty ravaged country like Nigeria, a Senate earns much higher, making them one of highest paid lawmakers in the world.
Many people have wondered the type of work Nigerian Senators could do that placed them among the highest paid lawmakers in the world.
Recall that in August 2017, the former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo described Nigerian Senators as “unarmed robbers”.
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The salaries and allowances of Nigerian lawmakers had remained unknown to the public until a prominent Nigerian and also a Senator, Shehu Sani shocked many Nigerians after he revealed the take home of a Nigerian Senator.
According to Senator Shehu Sani, each Nigerian Senator is entitled to a monthly expenses of N13.5 Million ($37,500), aside from basic monthly salaries which is about N718,400 ($2,000)
As you can see, the basic salary of a Nigerian Senator is far below the jumbo allowances they accrued to themselves.
They can easily reject their basic salary in protest but never joke with their allowances, just like one Senator did in the past; he rejected his basic monthly salary just to protest against 13% of Nigerian budget that goes to Senate and House of Representatives, but the clever senator collected all his allowances for that month.
Note: The figure as released by Shehu Sani has been confirmed by a Senate spokesperson saying that the allowances were for Senators to run their offices, and should not to be counted as part of their salaries. Who cares about their salaries?
The breakdown of Senators salary in Nigeria (according to Professor Itse Sagay)
- Basic salary Monthly Salary: N2,484,245.50
- Hardship allowance: N1,242,122.70
- Constituency allowance: N4,968,509.00
- Furniture allowance: N7,452,736.50
- Newspaper allowance: N1,242,122.70
- Wardrobe allowance: N621,061.37
- Recess allowance: N248,424.55
- Accommodation: N4,968,509.00
- Utilities: N828,081.83
- Domestic staff: N1,863,184.12
- Entertainment: N828,081.83
- Personal assistant: N621,061.37
- Vehicle maintenance: allowance N1,863,184.12
- Leave allowance: N248,424.55
- Severance gratuity: N7,425,736.50
- Motor vehicle allowance: N9,936,982.00
The figures above are the official breakdown of a Nigerian Senator’s allowance, the under table shares are not counted.
Comparing Senator’s allowances with N30,000 minimum wage in Nigeria.
A senator’s take home is about N156 Million per year (N13 Million per month)
If you are earning the minimum wage of N30,000. That means it would take a senator 1 hour and 50 minutes to receive your monthly income. And it would take you about 59 years and 2 months to earn a senator’s one month salary.