O. R. SalahudeenIn Nigeria, senators constitute the richest set of politicians. In fact, they perfectly fit into any category of richest Nigerian personalities. For the fact that many Nigerian senators try not to declare their actual net worth, some Nigerians hardly believe that senators earn far higher than many other Nigerians who hold dignified political positions.
The basic salary of a Nigerian senator is not so huge but his entire salary becomes whopping due to several allowances he receives annually. In that case, the lion share of his annual salary stems from the mouthwatering allowances he is paid.
As glaring as it is, thousands of Nigerian youths hope to emerge into the political field not because they’re passionate about maintaining good leadership and fair political agendas but because they wish to earn as huge as Nigerian senators do. To substantiate how rich Nigerian senators are, statistics show that the annual earnings of a common Nigerian senator are far above what the Nigerian President earns yearly. Meanwhile, this may have resulted from the fact that President Buhari pushed a 50% reduction into his salary and that of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo –the Vice President.
This article will give you the details of what Nigerian senators earn annually. Notably, this includes basic salary and the earnings received as allowances. If you’re looking for an in-depth analysis of the salaries of Nigerian senators, this write-up will surely serve you right. Moreover, it will help you in comparing the annual earnings of Nigerian senators with those of their counterparts in other countries like the U.S.A, UK, India and so on.
SALARIES OF NIGERIAN SENATORS – STRUCTURE AND DETAILS
The Annual Salary of a Nigerian Senator
The salary structure for Nigerian senators may be classified into two categories –notably
- Basic Salary
- Allowances
First and foremost, we will provide the details of what a Nigerian senator can earn as an annual salary exclusive of allowances.
As a Nigerian senator, your basic salary ( Salaries Of Nigerian Senators ) can be equivalent to #2, 026, 400. Although this makes a Nigerian senator a millionaire, it is just very meagre if compared to what he can earn as allowances. Allowances are the major sources of wealth for Nigerian senators and this is just why a Nigerian senator can have the annual allowances of #9, 525, 985. At this juncture, we can conclude mathematically that the overall annual salary of a Nigerian senator is equivalent to #12, 902, 360.
As provided in the Nigerian constitution, Nigeria has a total of 109 senators who are legislative representatives of their respective states. These senators occupy the upper chamber of the Nigerian legislature which is also known as NASS (National Assembly). Just like governors, senators are elected into offices to serve 4-year terms and this means a Nigerian senator can earn the whopping annual salary of #12, 902, 360 on a continuous basis for 4 years.
The Nigerian government spends massively on politics and this is why there is an estimated sum of #1, 406, 357, 240 as the expenditure on the entire 109 senators for a period of four years. With this figure, it is believable that throughout the world Nigeria has the highest salary structure for senators.
The Breakdown of Senatorial Allowances
As implied earlier, a Nigerian senator’s annual salary becomes so huge due to the amount he receives as allowances. In the latter case, below are the allowances a Nigerian senator is paid for:
- Utilities
- Entertainment recess
- Personal assistant
- Vehicle fueling
- Duty tour
- Estacode
- Domestic staff
- Vehicle maintenance
- Constituency
- Wardrobe
- House maintenance
- Newspaper/periodic allowance
In addition to the allowances discussed above, a Nigerian senator receives an additional sum of #24, 000, 000. Meanwhile, this comes at the end of his 4-year term within the National Assembly. As scheduled to be paid in this manner, the senator will have the privilege to expend this additional sum (of #24 million) on a few other things including accommodation, vehicle loan, furniture allowance and severance allowance. Over and above that, the FG is still expected to pay each senator an added sum of #2, 625, 810 for expenses regarding gratuity, furniture, accommodation and vehicle loans. To sum up, all that a Nigerian senator is expected to earn annually (by combining the added sum of #2, 625, 810 with his basic salary and the various allowances discussed previously), he will have the total sum of #33, 992, 360. With this, we can deduce that Nigeria’s annual expenditure on its total of 109 senators amounts to #3, 705, 167, 240. This is undoubtedly a mouthwatering amount to spend on legislators.
Therefore, we have tried to draw an obvious comparison between this mothering amount and what several other countries pay their senators annually. In the U.S, senators have a total of $3, 409, 422 as annual earnings. While in the Philippines, there is a total of $4, 497, 957 set aside as senators’ annual earnings. With much emphasis, Nigerian senators are the highest-paid lawmakers across the world. Probably, this is one of the reasons why there is a staggering influx of Nigerians into the political sector.
To further our comparison of the amounts earned by the senators of various countries, statistics show that Kenyan senators are paid a total of $968, 013 every year. Annually, Australia sets aside the sum of $646, 230 as senators’ earnings. For the entire members of the UK Parliament, there is a total of £494, 285.43 set aside as their annual earnings. Moreover, Tanzanian lawmakers have a total of $230, 961 as annual earnings while those in India have an annual sum of $474, 484. Finally, Singapore sets aside a total of $253, 469 as the annual earnings for its lawmakers.
Currently, Nigeria’s yearly expenditure on the National Assembly is estimated at #120 billion. Meanwhile, this is a reduction from the initial annual expenditure of #150 billion. As noted that this is a #30-billion reduction, the Nigerian government had to reduce senators’ earnings due to financial crises and certain other reasons.
Many political observers believe this is a great move because the country has been facing severe financial crises (such as huge debts) and in order to drive itself out of the woods, the Federal Government had to reduce the excessive spending on the National Assembly.
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