What we use N21 million monthly running cost for – Senate

Senate spokesperson Adeyemi Adaramodu (APC – Ekiti South) has dismissed claims that senators earn N21 million monthly in salary and allowances.

In a statement on Thursday, Adaramodu clarified that “running cost” should not be confused with personal salary and allowances, which are determined by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

“It’s not a personal allowance or salary of a legislator,” he said. RMAFC had earlier said that each senator’s salary and allowances total N1,063,860 monthly.

Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila, a senator representing Kano South, countered the RMAFC, saying that every senator gets N21 million monthly as running cost.

The senator revealed this in an interview with BBC Hausa on Wednesday, stating that his monthly salary is below a million naira.

“My monthly salary is less than 1 million. After deductions, the figure comes down to a little over N600,000,” Senator Sumaila said.

“Given the increase effected, in the Senate, each Senator gets N21 million every month as running cost,” he said.

The Senate spokesman emphasised that running costs are not unique to the National Assembly and are intended for official purposes, such as maintaining constituency offices and staff.

He stressed that these funds are not part of a senator’s income and must be properly accounted for with proof of expenditure.

Addressing allegations of wasteful spending, Adaramodu defended the integrity of the Senate, describing it as an assembly of accomplished professionals committed to national service.

“The Nigerian Senate is an Assembly of accomplished and successful professionals, administrators and captains of industries, who are not driven by these often touted egregious pecuniary bits, rather for their patriotic zeal in the nation’s quest to breathe life to Nigeria’s political and socio-economic dry bones,” he said.

He reiterated that the National Assembly operates within a budget that constitutes about one per cent of the federal budget and adheres to financial regulations.

Adaramodu concluded by stating that the Senate’s focus is on its patriotic duty to contribute to Nigeria’s political and socio-economic development, rather than being motivated by personal financial gain.

“The Nigerian Senate is an Assembly of accomplished and successful professionals, administrators and captains of industries, who are not driven by these often touted egregious pecuniary bits, rather for their patriotic zeal in the nation’s quest to breathe life to Nigeria’s political and socio-economic dry bones,” he said.