Senator earns N506, 600 as wardrobe allowance, says RMAFC chief

The annual wardrobe allowance for a senator is N506, 600, the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Elias Mbam, clarified yesterday.

According to him, the amount represents 25 per cent of a senator’s basic salary.

Mbam said the clarification became necessary following erroneous reports that National Assembly members will earn a whopping N8.64 billion as dressing allowance.

The RMAFC chief, who spoke when he visited Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki, at the National Assembly in Abuja, explained that wardrobe allowance was designed to assist public officers to dress properly.

He also confirmed that his commission has initiated the downward review of lawmakers’ allowances in line with the poor state of the economy.

His words: “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”

Mbam told his host that the RMAFC is one of the fourteen executive bodies provided for in the 1999 Constitution and added that the commission has a constitutional responsibility to monitor accruals to and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account.

He listed other mandate as: regular review of the revenue allocation formula to reflect changing realities; determine appropriate remuneration for political and public office holders and advise the federal and state governments on fiscal efficiencies and ways of raising their revenue base.

 Seeking for the partnership, support, collaboration and cooperation of the National Assembly with the commission to effectively discharge its duties, Mbam said: “We have always received the support of the National Assembly and we strongly believe that your leadership will further strengthen this relationship in the interest of the Nigerian public.”

Still on the wardrobe allowance, he asked for the permission of the Senate President “to use this opportunity to clarify some issues that have been in public domain and severally reported by some media.

“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.

“Furthermore, sometime last week, there was a publication that we have reviewed the 2008 Remuneration Act and went further to outline the entitlements of each public officer, please that is not from the commission.

“The commission is currently reviewing the 2008 remuneration Act and hopefully we expect it will be ready by the end of the third quota and once we are ready, we will make public and of course present it to the National Assembly.

“So, I will advise that those who may be misleading the public should come down to our office  to  clarify and get the proper information or go to our website because all the issues relating to remuneration are  very well stated in our website.”