The chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay, has condemned the high amount paid as allowances to members of the national assembly.
Sagay said the lawmakers are enriching themselves at the expense of the nation, adding that such an amount cannot be maintained.
This follows the recent revelation by Senator Shehu Sani (APC-Kaduna Central) that lawmakers earn N13m as allowances in addition to their basic salary of N750,000.
Sagay, addressing newsmen in Abuja, said, “This is self-awarded salary; it has nothing to do with the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC at all.
They are acting outside the law, making themselves wealthy at the expense of the country
“Since they are the ones that approve budgets, they went round the RMAFC and cut out another large percentage or proportion of the budget for themselves, calling it allowances.
I was the first person to draw attention to these outrageous salaries and allowances.
When I did, they were extremely angry and said all sorts of things, knowing in truth that I was right.
“They overreacted instead of being apologetic and having some sense of remorse for what they are doing. Obviously, what they are earning is out of tune with the economic reality in the country.
“These people cannot continue to consume the resources of this country while millions of others are scratching and looking for tiny morsel to eat. It is not sustainable. Something has to be done. We can’t allow it to continue.
“What they are earning exceeds the minimum wage by 1,666 times and their productivity is almost nil.
All they are doing is to fight the president and bring government down to a standstill.
“They have no sense of service at all. They are not thinking of the country. They are all come and chop characters. Service is the last thing in their minds.
“They are just on a feeding frenzy. They are stripping this country of all our resources.
They don’t care what happens to the country, rather they are causing crisis in government.
“They are irrelevant people; they are just dragging us down. The cost of maintaining them is too much.”
