By Uzoma Akobundu
Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP) has said that Nigeria’s National Assembly is the most expensive and profligate globally.
The party said the amount of money associated to the senators an
ANRP NAtional Chairman, Tope Fasua
d House of Representatives members is not only scandalous but shows hos self-serving they could be going by the level of hardship associated with majority of Nigerians.
National publicity secretary of the ANRP, Sesugh Akume said in a statement made available to this medium that the party is “aghast at the revelation emerging from the Nigerian Senate that each of the 109 members is paid N13.5 million monthly as ‘running costs’ amounting to at least N1.472 billion monthly, aside from the legitimate Senator’s monthly pay of N750,000.”
“This officially confirms the Nigerian Senate, nay the National Assembly as the most expensive, most profligate Parliament in the world,” ANRP decried.
The statement read: “For this group of self-serving politicians/members of Nigeria’s political class to live off such mind-blowing amounts, in a country where 70 per cent of its population live in abysmal poverty, a county with the largest number and highest percentage of poor people is nothing short of soullessness and callousness.
“Nigeria is one of the countries with the largest earning disparities in the world. Despite this, wages of workers and pensioners are owed for upwards of 12 months.
“If/when ANRP gets into office, things shall be turned around from the foundation to ensure that such rape of our sensibilities never happens again.
“As a party, we propose having a part time legislature to cut down on costs. Second, we propose a unicameral legislature as all our studies are unable to provide justification for the expensive bicameral legislature we run. If however we shall have a bicameral legislature, the Senate shall modeled after the British House of Lords, where members shall be paid a stipend as sitting allowances only.
“Third, we want everyone: politicians, civil and public servants to be on the same minimum wage. Politicians should never be placed on high wages; so that those whose hearts are not about service will find it unattractive and stay away from public office. Public service is about service and not self -enrichment. As part of our uniform wage proposal, we desire that even people who do not work for the government should also be on a basic wage they can live on.
“The disparity between the lowest paid and highest wage earners in Nigeria is among the widest in the world. This too we will resolve. We believe that every Nigerian can and should earn a living wage and we want to work towards achieving this.”
The ANRP condemned the disparity in the payment structure of the country where those on top positions are paid outrageous allowances and other perquisites of office that catapult their takem home pay to something out of this world.
“Many top officials in Nigeria do not earn much with regard to their basic salary but have allowances and other perquisites in thousands of folds of their standard earnings, as is demonstrated by this rape by the National Assembly. These are loopholes of ‘legal corruption’ we will address by making policies to limit allowances and ensure uniform standards of allowances apply to politicians, and civil/public servants alike. There are wage disparities even among different agencies within the same government. This too we shall address,” Akume said.
ANRP continued: “The Presidential Committee on the Review of the Reform Process in the Public Service (2013) — the Adamu Fika Committee — report has it that 18,000 government officials (in all arms of the government) live on 35 per cent of our total annual budget.
“For ANRP, cutting the excesses of politicians and others who constitute this 18,000, an infinitesimal number as compared to our large population, and making our minimum wage a living wage is a good place to start from. We will ensure that owing salaries (and pensions) or bragging about paying same up-to-date will be a thing of the past. The party expects that the savings from this wastage shall be invested in the economy to make the country work for all.
“’This way, we will free up a lot of funds that can go into increasing the minimum wage, to provide stable electricity, clean potable water, the best public healthcare system, quality public education, an efficient and reliable public transportation system, low food prices, and security of life and property. These are the things Nigerians spend the most of their hard-earned monies on. When these are taken care of, our people will have more money to spend on other things, to save, and to plan ahead. This is our goal’, the party states in her Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
“We, through good governance and proper economic management will work to improve the value of the naira, such that a little can purchase much.
“The first place to start however will be to purge ourselves of the present crop of selfish, self-serving and self-centred individuals we have especially at the National Assembly, as well as at all levels. Enough of the recycling.”