Members of the National Assembly, comprising 109 senators and 360 lawmakers in the House of Representatives, are to collect a total of N8.64 billion as wardrobe allowance, New Telegraph learnt yesterday.
According to a source, the amount, which has been earmarked for them as wardrobe allowance, is different from their furniture, housing, vehicle and other allowances. Investigations showed that the N8.64 billion would be paid into the individual bank account of the lawmakers by next week.
The source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said each of the 360 members of the House of Representatives would collect N17.5 million each while the 109 senators will collect N 21.5 million each. The wardrobe allowance, like furniture and vehicle allowances, is meant for the entire four-year term of the 469 National Assembly members as against housing allowance that is given yearly.
Housing allowance for political office holders is 200 per cent of their annual salaries; furniture is 300 per cent and motor vehicle loan is 400 per cent.
According to the source, 109 senators, apart from the Senate President and his deputy, will be paid N4.05 million each as housing allowance. They will also be paid the same amount every year because the housing allowance is on annual basis.
This means that the 107 senators will be paid a total of N4.33 billion as housing allowance annually since both the Senate President and his deputy are provided official accommodation by the Federal Government.
Similarly, each member of the House of Representatives will be paid N3,970,425 as housing allowance on assumption of office. This means that the 358 lawmakers will collect a total of N1.42 billion as housing allowance.
Also, the speaker and the deputy speaker are excluded from this allowance since the Federal Government provides their accommodation.
Following the monetisation of entitlements of public officials, the lawmakers lost the right to occupy houses built and maintained by the Federal Government. Accordingly, the Federal Government sold to the legislators the houses previously built for them to occupy and quit at the end of their four-year tenure. The principal officers of the National Assembly also benefited from the sale of the houses.
As a result, the Federal Capital Territory Administration is, at present, building houses for the four presiding officers from the Senate and the House. For furniture, each of the senators is to get N6,079,200. The furniture for both the Senate President and his deputy are to be provided by the government.
This means that 107 senators will get a total of N650,474,400 as furniture allowance. Just like wardrobe allowance, furniture allowance is paid once in four years. Each member of the House of Representatives will be paid N5,955,637.50 as furniture allowance.
This means that 358 lawmakers, excluding the speaker and his deputy, will collect a total of N2,132,118,225 for furniture.
For vehicle allowance, each of the senators is entitled to N8, 105,600 while each lawmaker will receive N7,940,850.50.
This means that 107 senators will collect N867,299,200 as vehicle allowance while 358 lawmakers will collect N2,842,824,479.
-New Telegraph
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