ALLEGED N3BN SALARY: Meeting with Saraki provided no satisfactory answers- SERAP claims

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has described as unfortunate the failure of the leadership of the Senate to give satisfactory answer over allegation that a Nigerian Senator gets over N3 billion yearly.

SERAP disclosed this in a statement on Friday wherein it confirmed that its representatives on Thursday met with the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to discuss matters regarding details of annual salaries and allowances of Nigerian senators.

Sequel to Professor Itse Sagay’s allegation that a Nigerian senator gets N29 million in monthly pay, and over N3 billion a year, SERAP had written the Senate demanding clarifications on the issue.

Consequently, the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, had invited the organisation to a meeting last Thursday, September 21, possibly to provide explanations to the allegation.

However, SERAP in a in a statement this Friday signed by its deputy director, Timothy Adewale, said, “While we appreciate the expresed commitment by Saraki to transparency and accountability of the National Assembly, and the rare opportunity to dialogue with him, we remain deeply concerned that the leadership of the Senate has unfortunately not satisfactorily addressed the damaging allegations by Professor Itse Sagay…”

Adewale went further to explain, “There is an apparent discrepancy in some areas between what Saraki said at the meeting and what the Senate is doing in practice to improve transparency of its operations and accountability of members.

For example, the Senate President’s response to Sagay’s allegations was simply to refer SERAP to the National Assembly budget for 2017, which is available on its website. However, a careful study of the document shows that it contains only some general information and not specific details that respond directly to allegations raised by Sagay.”

Part of statement read, “The meeting with Saraki raises more questions than it answers. The Senate budget on its website is incomplete. The absence of specific details on salaries and allowances of each senator not only makes analysis difficult, it also points to underlying weaknesses in monitoring and transparency mechanisms.

“Without including some level of details, Nigerians may see the published National Assembly budget as nothing more than window-dressing. SERAP hopes that the leadership of the Senate doesn’t want this to be the case—and we certainly see no reason why it should be the case. As we have noted, improved transparency on the exact salaries and allowances of senators and indeed members of the House of Representatives is in the interests of all.

“In SERAP’s view, rather than referring us to the seemingly incomplete National Assembly budget, the Senate President should have provided a line-by-line response to Sagay’s allegations. It’s important that the leadership of the Senate provides additional information that is lacking from the published budget if it is ever going to satisfactorily clear the air on the issues.”

According to SARAP, transparency is a fundamental attribute of democracy, a norm of human rights, a tool to promote political and economic prosperity and to curb corruption.

“For the Senate, practising transparency should start with the leadership being open to Nigerians on the salaries and allowances of members,” it added.