Nigeria: Reps Clarify Monthly Salaries, Remain Committed to 50% Pay Cut

"We wish to clarify that the actual monthly salary for members is N600,000, after deductions for advances such as housing, which are paid at the commencement of the tenure."

Each member of the House of Representatives takes N600,000 as monthly salary against N900,000, which is being speculated by some Nigerians, its spokesperson, Akin Rotimi, has said.

Mr Rotimi made the clarification in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

He reaffirmed the commitment of the House to the 50 per cent deduction in their salary to reduce hardship.

"The House of Representatives has been inundated by some media outlets reporting claims of discrepancies in the salaries of members, suggesting that we received 100 per cent of our July salaries.

"The report claimed that our salary amounted to N936,979

"We wish to clarify that the actual monthly salary for members is N600,000, after deductions for advances such as housing, which are paid at the commencement of the tenure," he said.

Controversial remunerations

The remunerations of the members of the House and their colleagues in the Senate have always been controversial because they remain a closely guarded secret.

In August 2020, PREMIUM TIMES reported that while N6.58 billion was being used to pay the salaries and allowances of the 360 members of the House, annually, the nation spent N2.4 billion for the 109 senators.

However, in October of that year, a member of the House, Simon Karu, said each member was earning N9.3 million monthly.

"The official salary of a member of the House of Representatives which I also receive monthly, is N800,0000. I told you I was going to say it; why don't you wait for me to say it? The office running cost of a member of the House of Representatives is N8.5 million," Mr Karu said.

Committed to 50% pay cut

Meanwhile, Mr Rotimi said the House member who displayed his salary on a TV programme was an exceptional case because he assumed office through a court decision many months after the onboarding process was concluded.

He said the House remained committed to the resolution passed on 18 July, which mandated a 50 per cent reduction in members' salaries for six months.

In July, lawmakers decided to take a six-month pay cut as a sacrifice due to the economic hardship currently experienced by Nigerians.

The pay cut will, however, affect only their basic salaries and not their allowances, which are significantly higher than the basic salaries.

"We acknowledge and regret that this resolution was not implemented by the bureaucracy as intended for the month of July.

"Resolutions of the House are ratified when the votes and proceedings of plenary are adopted on the next legislative day. Consequently, the bureaucracy was only formally instructed on July 23."

The spokesperson said the delay in the implementation was due to necessary administrative procedures and coordination with financial institutions.

He added that instructions for adjusting salaries had since been issued and would be enforced moving forward to ensure its pledge is fully realised.

"There is nothing to investigate, as some media houses reported, as the House's position on this matter had been provided to some journalists who had reached out for clarification."

He called for patience and assured the House of its steadfast adherence to its pledge and sustained efforts to earn the trust and confidence of all Nigerians.

This article originally appeared in Premium Times.