The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) recently revealed how much each of the 109 senators in Nigeria earns monthly. According to the commission, a senator receives a total of ₦1,063,860 in salary and allowances every month.
This total includes a basic salary of ₦168,866.70. Additionally, senators get allowances for various expenses, such as ₦126,650 for fueling and maintaining their vehicles, ₦42,216.66 for a personal assistant, and ₦126,650 for domestic staff. Other allowances include ₦50,660 for entertainment, another ₦50,660 for utilities, ₦25,330 for newspapers and periodicals, ₦42,216.66 for their wardrobe, ₦8,443.33 for house maintenance, and ₦422,166.66 for constituency-related expenses.
The chairman of RMAFC, M. B. Shehu, made this information public on a Tuesday, clarifying the actual earnings of senators following a recent claim by former Senator Shehu Sani. Sani had suggested that each senator receives a monthly running cost of ₦13.5 million in addition to a salary of ₦750,000.
Shehu emphasized that the RMAFC does not have the authority to ensure that lawmakers follow the remuneration guidelines it sets. However, he noted that the National Assembly is currently addressing this gap in oversight.
Shehu further explained that some of the allowances senators receive are regular, meaning they are paid monthly along with the basic salary, while others are non-regular, paid only when necessary.
For example, furniture and severance gratuity allowances amount to ₦6,079,200 each and are paid once every legislative term. A vehicle allowance, which is optional and totals ₦8,105,600, is provided as a loan that must be repaid before the senator leaves office.
Shehu also mentioned that, unlike in the past, only the president, vice president, senate president, and the speaker of the House of Representatives are provided with housing. Other public and legislative officers are no longer given this benefit.
The discussion about senators’ earnings heated up recently when the Senate responded to remarks made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He had criticized federal lawmakers, claiming they set their salaries themselves. Obasanjo, who led Nigeria from May 1999 to May 2007, called this practice “immoral” and argued that the responsibility should lie with the RMAFC.
In response, Senate spokesman Yemi Adaramodu dismissed these accusations, calling them “uncharitable and satanic” and insisted that the Senate only receives the salary allocated by the RMAFC as per the constitution.
