Starting from Monday, the 469 lawmakers of the National Assembly will start receiving their N70m individual welcome package.
Confirming the development, a member of the federal legislature management said: “We have not started the disbursement of what you people called ‘welcome package’ but the honourable members and the senators should start receiving their money from next (this) week because we have done our part.”
The welcome package, which totalled N32.83bn at N70m each, comprises annual accommodation allowance, furniture allowance, and motor vehicle loan. It will also include the salaries and allowances of the lawmakers for the first month and the running or overhead cost for the first three months.
The package for each lawmaker shows that the running cost might have been enhanced as each member of the House of Representatives might receive as much as N70m, while senators may get higher.
The summation of the annual accommodation allowance, furniture allowance, and motor vehicle loan for either a senator or Rep is lower than N70m, thus indicating that the unofficial emoluments of the lawmakers may have been enhanced.
For senators, each lawmaker collects N40.5m (for three months) for overhead as revealed by Senator Shehu Sani in the 8th National Assembly. The monthly salary and regular allowances of a senator is N1, 063,860.
As prescribed by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, a senator is entitled to N4,052,800 for accommodation (once a year) and a furniture allowance of N6,079,200 (once in four years). Should a senator desire, they are entitled to N8, 105,600 as motor vehicle loan. These sum up to N59, 801,460.
A member of the House of Representatives, on the other hand, receives N30m a quarter for overhead or running cost. They are also entitled to a monthly salary and a regular allowance of N794, 086.83.
The accommodation allowance of a Rep is N3, 970,425 per annum while the furniture allowance is N5, 955,637 (for four years). Should a Rep desire, they can get a motor vehicle loan of N7, 940,850.50. These sum up to N48, 660,999.83.
SOURCE: herald.ng