Federal Lawmakers’ Earnings Are Not Enough – Ex Speaker Dogara
A former speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara has said that the monthly earnings of the lawmakers including their allowances are not enough to sustain them as Nigerians keep criticising the huge some of money the lawmakers earn as salaries and allowances.
The former speaker, who is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said that he was earning less than N400,000 when he was a member of the lower chamber of the National Assembly. He said that as a principal officer of the chamber, he was getting N25m.
Mr. Dogara added that the money cannot last for more than 3 days.
He said, “While I was a Speaker, my salary was less than N400,000. I don’t know if it has been increased now. My total impress was N25 million, and I told my accountant to open a separate account for the impress, and I never for once took any money out of that account. Everything that came into that account was used to cater to the needs of constituents.
“My accountant complained of the level of demand on the account, and I told him if the money there is finished, borrow it. When money comes, you return it to where you had taken money from.
“I am saying this so Nigerians will give their legislatures breathing space and know that the narrative is not true about members’ pay.”
The incumbent deputy speaker, Benjamin Kalu had been quoted as saying that the current salaries of the lawmakers cannot take them home let alone to do what they were elected to.
Kalu said, “At the moment, talking about the salary of the National Assembly. I have said this over and again; it is not as much as people think. Salary is different from allowance, which is meant to do the jobs our constituents have sent us to do.
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