It is true that the remuneration of all members of the Nigerian National Assembly is unacceptable. By the confession of the spokesman of the senate, Senator Ayogu Eze, the recurrent expenditure of the National Assembly in the 2010 budget was N158 billion, which amounted to 3.5 percent of the entire budget of N 4.4 trillion.
The quarrel the Assembly members have with the CBN governor, Mr. Sanusi, therefore, is that he says 25 percent rather than 3.5 percent is being spent on the National Assembly. Accordingly, they have "summoned" him to appear before them and "defend" his figures. Some senators even asked for Mr. Sanusi to resign without first hearing him out!
The House of Representatives passed a bill seeking to appropriate more than N 6 billion for SIM card registration by telecommunication networks in Nigeria. Some members of the House who protested were tyrannically gagged and shouted down by the Speaker, Mr. Bankole, even against heckling by some of the House members. Besides, this approval was made when the majority of members were not in the plenary sitting of the House. How could the House approve N 6.1 billion for an exercise that telecommunication companies should carry out at their expense? Does Nigeria own shares in those companies? President Jonathan should veto this, and the ministry of finance should not release the money.
Only few months ago, some members were suspended from the House because they held contrary views. A member of the House was recently tongue-lashed for expressing his views on television against the resolve to make national lawmakers members of the National Executive Councils of their political parties. He was forced to apologize publicly to avoid being referred to the ethics committee of the House that would have recommended his suspension from the House. Given the public rejection of the proposed amendment to the 2010 Electoral Act at the public hearing lately, I wonder if the House would apologize to the "grammar" honourable member. The minister of finance, Dr. Aganga, has also been "summoned" to appear before the senate because he says the federal government is considering reducing the allocation to the National Assembly in the 2011 budget.
In 2009, the federal government's budget to the education sector was only 2 percent (the lowest, in my recollection, as a percentage of budgets in the history of Nigeria) of the entire budget of N3.1 trillion, which approximated the total emoluments of members of the National Assembly, who are less than 500 in number. Moreover, N 60 billion was voted for "constituency projects", whose accounting mechanism remains very unreliable. A little more than a month ago, as I write, I asked my senator in Abuja about what they do with the money. He danced around it, made some noises, signifying nothing! There is no transparency in the national assembly. If you go to the website of the national assembly, you will not see how they spend the money allocated to them. Their salaries and allowances have been shrouded in secrecy that even a former president, Obasanjo, had to decry the bleeding that some of us have been writing about without any serious attention (I am happy though, that lately, the heat is being turned on those wreckers of our commonwealth). He admitted that no one was really sure how much each lawmaker appropriates for himself, but said it was about N 250 million per senator annually. Of course, he was taken on by the legislators.
Last year, when the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), under pressure by some of us, sought to reduce allowances being paid Nigerian public officials (all of whom, less than 18,000, take more than N 1.2 trillion annually), Senator Ayogu Eze said that the senate was ready to concede only 10 percent. Let the senate tell Nigerians if even that 10 percent reduction in their allowances has been effected.
If a public official says anything displeasing to the national assembly he will be threatened. If one of their own, with a conscience, speaks his mind, he will be harassed. Where then is the principle called freedom of speech in a democracy? Does the national assembly know that if the spending on public officials in Nigeria is not reduced, and quickly too, the economy shall be shut down only few years down the line? The senate recently approved life allowances to former heads of state, former senators and deputies, former speakers and deputies, and former chief justices until their last spouse dies! Just consider the weight that would bring on the fiscal frame of the nation. Consider the turn-over of such officers in Nigeria. Finally, consider the fact that many of those officials keep a harem of wives (if they are males, as the majority of them are).
The Intractable Tyranny Of The National Assembly (http://www.saharareporters.com/article/intractable-tyranny-national-assembly)