Finally, the controversy surrounding the annual wardrobe allowance of a senator may have been settled. The Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Elias Mbamannual has confirmed that the annual wardrobe allowance for a senator is N506, 600.
According to him, the amount represents 25 per cent of a senator’s basic salary.
“Particularly yesterday, I read in one of the dailies that the wardrobe allowance which will be due next week for the members of the National Assembly is N8.64 billion.
For the purpose of clarity, what is provided for wardrobe allowance is 25 per cent of the basic salary and if you work that out, what every senator will get is N506, 600 per annum and I wonder the relationship between that amount and the N8.64 billion that was quoted.
It (wardrobe allowance) is 25 per cent of the basic salary for senators and if you apply that, every senator will receive N506, 600 per annum
House of Representatives is less, but I don’t have the figure. It is less than that. Certainly there are other allowances.
There is utility allowance, there is housing, there is entertainment allowance and at the end of the service, there is severance allowance.
We will do a downward review of the allowances of lawmakers due to parameters like the state of the economy, the inflation, the capacity to pay, the reality of the day.
So, we will use all these to determine what is fair within the context of the present situation. The parameters will form the new Remuneration Act”
A local Newspaper had reported that the Senate had a wardrobe allowance that ran into millions each for each Senator causing a viral barrage of criticisms on social media, blogs and electronic media.
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