MY TAKE ON SALARIES FOR NIGERIAN LEGISLATORS

By Dr Nur Alkali


My Take on Salaries for Legislators

* as shared on FaceBook

The issue of salaries earned by federal legislators has dominated public discourse since Senator Shehu Sani and Honourable Gudaje confirmed what we all knew earlier. Now that the hysteria has ebbed, perhaps we can make a fair analysis and offer long-lasting solutions, not the knee-jerk reactions that don't take us anywhere. 

How much does it cost to live in Abuja? That obviously depends on your status, family size, living expenses and other variables. All are inter-dependent, since status could determine family size and consequently, the number of your children, the school fees you pay, your feeding expenses, house rent, utility bills, etc. 

But even a senator with one wife and three children can't survive in Abuja on a N750,000 monthly salary. School fees for three children alone will take N250,000 a month (N3 million yearly) at Abuja's less expensive private schools. I have lived in Abuja and paid school fees, so I know this very well. That leaves the senator with N500,000 monthly.

Last year, I was at the office of a Reps Member who had secured 8 or 10 placements for his constituency at a law-enforcement agency. After recruits arrived the training camp in Nasarawa State, a change of schedule directed some to return home till a later date and others to proceed to Kano for training. I pitied the Reps that day. All his candidates were affected. They left the camp, entered Abuja, and had nowhere to sleep that night, so they called his PA. 

In my presence, the Member arranged accommodation for his candidates at an Abuja hotel. When I asked, he said he handled such issues at least once weekly. He was also the one who hired a bus to covey the recruits to the Nasarawa training camp, and he would be paying for their onward journeys. Even if that happens only once monthly, how much is left of his salary after this and his kid's school fees?

If we'd be honest, federal legislators cannot live on N750K and N650K a month, except if they should avoid responsibilities, live in Masaka instead of Gwarinpa and Maitama, and educate their children in public schools. But ministers and civil servants with permanent jobs don't do that, so why should they, considering they need public goodwill to return to office? 

Yet, N13.5 million plus N600 million extra in constituency projects is a fraud. So, I propose monthly salaries and allowances totaling N4 million for a Senator and N3.2 million for a Reps - and no constituency project - to replace the status quo. Public service is sacrifice, and a nation paying N18,000 minimum wage should not pay over 222 times that amount to law-makers.