Nigeria to pay over N1.8bn severance package to exiting Federal law makers

Nigeria is to pay over N1.85 billion in severance packages to the non-returning members of the seventh session of the National Assembly, BusinessDay investigations have shown.

The money is statutorily approved by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

Following the outcome of the April 11 2015 general elections, 233 members of the House of Representatives lost their seats while 76 Senators also lost out, bringing the number of non-returning legislators to 309  out of the figure of 469 elected lawmakers.

The breakdown of the remuneration package as prepared by the RMAFC legally empowered for such responsibility, shows that each of these federal law makers is entitled to 300 percent of their various annual basic salaries.

The law provides that any public office holder that completes his or her tenure, is entitled to a severance package, irrespective of whether such officer will return or not.

With this provision, Senate President, David Mark and Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu who have both been re-elected as Senators but may not likely return as Principal Officers, are entitled to the provided severance packages.

As stipulated in the document, Senate President David Mark’s annual basic salary is put at N2,484,242 meaning that the calculated severance gratuity by RMAFC is N7,452,727 while the Deputy Senate President who officially earns N2,309,166.75 as annual basic salary, would be paid N6,927,500.25 as severance.

A Senator officially earns N2,026,400 as annual basic and is therefore entitled N6,079,200 as severance package. The 74 non-returning Senators, exclusive of Mark and Ekweremadu, would be paid a total of N449,860,800.

Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker of the House of Representatives, who will not  be returning to the House on account of  his election as governor of Sokoto State, would be paid N7,431,330 as severance package.

Tambuwal’s annual basic salary is N2,477,110. Emeka Ihedioha, Deputy Speaker of the House, who is  also not returning, even though he lost the Imo State governorship bid, would earn N6,861,102.75 as severance package, with his official annual basic standing at N2,287,034.25.

Each House of Representatives member earns N1,985,212.50 as basic salary and is entitled to a severance package of N5,955,637.50 . This means that the 231 members who would not be returning to the House, are entitled to N1,375,752,262.5 in total.

The monies would be paid out of the National Assembly coffers, according to RMAFC.

BusinessDay learnt however, that about N14 billion has been calculated as the total sum to be paid out of the federal coffers, as total severance package for these law makers.

But the authorities at the RMFAC are insisting that the calculated amounts are the statutorily approved entitlements, and as such, it is criminal to pay any sums that fall out what has been recommended by the Commission.

The seventh National Assembly was inaugurated on the 5th June 2011 and will end its official legislative activities on Thursday, 4th June 2015.

An authoritative source who spoke under the condition of anonymity disclosed that the yet to be paid loans obtained by Senators and members of the House of Representatives from deposit  money banks, and guaranteed by the National Assembly management, may be deducted before the payment of the severance package.

Many of the banks had granted over N100 million to individual lawmakers to secure accommodation on resumption for the four-year legislative period, with an understanding to ensure repayment through deduction from source.

But one of the bankers who confided in our correspondent, alleged that some of the highly exposed political officers have changed their accounts in connivance with some officials in the accounts department of the National Assembly.

Our source also said that one of the principal officers of the House of Representatives failed to pay back a whopping N200 million loan, which eventually formed part of the bad loans absorbed by the Asset Management Corporation  of Nigeria(AMCON) .

Onyinye Nwachukwu & Kehinde Akintola