The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP,
has challenged the senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki to disclose to
Nigerians how much each Senators earn annually.
SERAP said Saraki should, “urgently explain to Nigerians if
it is true that a Nigerian Senator gets N29 million in monthly pay, and over N3
billion a year.”
The body made the call in reaction to claim by the Chairman
Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC), Professor
Itse Sagay, saying Senator gets N29 million in monthly pay.
However, the Senate has so far refused to clarify this or disclose
the details of salaries and allowances of its members.
In a statement by its Deputy Director, Timothy Adewale sent
to DAILY POST, the body said, “The ‘sky will not fall’ if details of a Nigerian
Senator’s salaries and allowances are published on a dedicated website. SERAP
believes that releasing the information on salaries and allowances of members
of the Senate would encourage a nuanced, evidence-based public debate on what
would or should be a fair salary for a member of the Senate.
“It is by making transparency a guiding principle of the
National Assembly that the Senate can regain the support of their constituents
and public trust, and contribute to ending the country’s damaging reputation
for corruption.
“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.
“SERAP strongly believes that it is by knowing exactly how
much their lawmakers earn as salaries and allowances that members of the
National Assembly can remain accountable to Nigerians and our citizens can be
assured that neither fraud nor government waste is concealed.”
“If the Senate under your leadership is committed to serving
the public interest, it should reaffirm its commitment to openness by urgently
publishing details of salaries and allowances of members. But when the Senate
leadership routinely denies access to information on matters as basic as
salaries and allowances of our lawmakers because some exceptions or other
privileges override a constitutional and statutory disclosure requirement, open
government would seem more like a distant, deferred ideal than an existing
practice.”
“The continuing refusal by the Senate to reveal concrete
information about the salaries and allowances of their leadership and members
could ultimately endanger the healthy development of a rule-of-law state.
“SERAP is concerned that the Senate seems to consider
releasing concrete information about salaries and allowances of members to be
at best a burden and, at worst, a threat to their legislative functions.
Releasing information on your salaries and allowances would not interfere with
your law-making functions. In fact, doing so would improve public confidence in
the ability and legitimacy of the Senate to perform those functions and make
laws for the peace, order and good governance of the Federation.”
“By permitting access to information on your members’
salaries and allowances long shielded unnecessarily from public view, the
Senate would be moving towards securing the confidence of Nigerians in the
legislature. The Senate would also be establishing a more solid political base
from which to perform its legislative duties and to fulfill its role in the
balance of power within the Nigerian constitutional order.
“Transparency is necessary for accountability, and helps to
promote impartiality by suppressing self-interested official behavior. It also
enables the free flow of information among public agencies and private
individuals, allowing input, review, and criticism of government action, and
thereby increases the quality of governance.”
By Seun Opejobi
