The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), has asked Senate President Ahmed Lawan to stop misleading Nigerians, adding that senators earn N15m monthly and not N750,000 as claimed by the Senate President.
The Senate president had on Tuesday claimed that there was no such thing as ‘jumbo pay’, adding that he earns N750,000 as salary.
But in an interview with Punch on Wednesday, Sagay said Nigerians were more interested in how much senators take home monthly in salary and allowances.
According to Sagay, Lawan was only speaking half truth because everyone knows that the bulk of the money earned by senators is embedded in their allowances.
Sagay said, “He (Lawan) knows that nobody will take him seriously. I respect and like him but what he has done is to give half-truth. He is telling us the actual salary without mentioning anything about the allowances.
“That’s where the jumbo pay comes in when you talk of building, furniture, domestic this or that, 15 items and those items alone bring everything up to N13.5m a month. So, simply mentioning the base salary, which brings it over N14m, is not sufficient.
“So, technically, he’s right, that’s their salary. But what is his income, take-home pay, at the end of the month? It’s about N15m and we are not including so many other things we need not talk about now.
The senior advocate said the presiding officers of the National Assembly even earn more than ordinary members.
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