The N9 billion that will soon be released to the newly inaugurated National Assembly members has created a lot of controversy and discourse across board.
Several opinions and speculations to the amount that we hear is only part of their allowance.
According to Punch, Senators earn N2 million as salary per month while Representatives are to earn N1.8 million as salary per month, while the allowances are 850 per cent of their basic salary.
What this translates to is that each senator earns N17million in allowances per month. In addition to the basic salary, that is N19 million per month.
For members of the House of Reps, each representative earns N15.3 million in allowances per month plus N1.8 million salary that is N17.1 million per month.
Going further in the calculation, each senator earns N24 million per annum as basic salary and N204 million as allowance per annum. A representative earns N21.6 million as basic salary per annum and N183.6 million per annum as allowance.
For the 109 senators, they will be earning N99.4 billion in four years while 360 representatives would earn N295.5 billion in four years which ultimately translates to the legislators earning N395 billion in 4 years.
This astronomical figure comes at a time when Nigeria is struggling due to high oil prices, and half of the 36 states owe salaries and pensions.
The Senate will reconvene on June 23rd, and are expected to respond to the PUNCH report, as well as address growing calls for a more transparent federal legislature.
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