The Federal Government will spend twenty-four billion naira yearly as accommodation allowances for members of the 10th National Assembly.
The development was obtained from a document on the website of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission, RMAFC.
According to RMAFC’s document, the N24bn covered accommodation, domestic staff, utilities, house maintenance, wardrobe, and furniture.
Furniture allowances were usually paid once in four years for public office holders, but the frequency of payment was not disclosed for members of the National Assembly.
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Based on the annual allocation of over five billion naira (N5.87bn) the Federal Government will spend over twenty-three billion naira (N23.48bn) on the lawmakers’ accommodation in just four years.
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The housing allowances of the Senators will cost over one billion naira (N1.38bn) yearly, according to RMAFC.
The amount covered only the allowances for the 107 senators, as the amount for the Senate President and Deputy Senate President was not disclosed.
A breakdown of the allocation revealed that over four million naira (N4.05m) was allocated for accommodation, over one million ( N1.52m) for domestic staff, six hundred and seven thousand ninth two naira (N607,920) for utilities, one hundred and one thousand three hundred twenty naira (N101,320) for house maintenance, five hundred and six thousand six hundred naira (N506,600) for wardrobe allowance, and over six million naira (N6.08m) for furniture allowance.
Similarly, the housing allowances of the House of Representatives members will cost over four billion naira( N4.49bn) yearly.
However, the amount for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker was not disclosed by the RMAFC.
Isma’ila Maihanchi, member-elect of the House of Representatives for the Jalingo/Yorro/Zing federal constituency in Taraba, is reportedly dead. Additionally, Femi Gbajabiamila, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, resigned from the 10th House to take up his new position as the chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu.
Going by the above, the amount covered only the allowances for the 356 House of Representatives members.
A breakdown revealed that over three million naira (N3.97m) was allocated for accommodation, over one million naira (N1.48m) for domestic staff, over five hundred and ninth five thousand naira( N595,563.75) for utilities, over ninety-nine thousand naira (N99,260.62) for house maintenance, over four hundred thousand naira ( N496,303.12) for wardrobe allowance, and over five million naira (N5.96m) for furniture allowance.
The total amount that members of the National Assembly will receive as housing allowances annually was likely higher than the disclosed amount since the allocations for the Senate President and his deputy, as well as the Speaker and his Deputy, were not disclosed in the N5.87bn document.