Lawan: Senator gets N13m, Rep N8m, says ‘corruption in Nigeria a complex issue’

Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has debunked the public perception of the 9th National Assembly as a rubber stamp of the executive.
Lawan said this at the Distinguished Parliamentarians Lecture in Abuja on Monday.
He spoke at a lecture he tagged, “The Legislature, Legislative Mandate and The People- The Reality and The Public Perception,” organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).
According to him, Nigeria has three arms of government that are constitutionally equal but the people are heavily represented at the legislature than the other arms.
He said that for the peace and development of the nation, the three arms of government must work together as the failure and success of one arm of government will be attributed to all.
According to him, the legislature, being the first arm of government constitutionally, the closest and as well the most accessible by the people, easily lends itself to public scrutiny and sometimes take the blame even for government decisions that fall outside its legislative competence.
He explained that the three arms of government have a responsibility to each other and an obligation to Nigerians, thus must have a cordial relationship based on mutual respect for constitutional rights and mandate to succeed.
He emphasised that the cooperation of the 9th Assembly with the executive have improve efficiency in law making; as at November 2021, about 2,500 Bills have been introduced; 769 in the Senate and 1,634 in the House of Representatives.
Number of Acts gazetted increased as compared with different regimes since 1999; Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2006) 82 Acts; Umar Musa Yar’Adua (2007¬-2009) 38 Acts; Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (2010-2015) 40 Acts and Muhammdu Buhari(2015-date) 84 Acts.
Senator Lawan tried to clear several misconception around the National Assembly and its operations, stating that the salaries of the members of the National Assembly as approved by the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) which is included in the budget allocated to the National Assembly.
The total salary of a senator is about N1.5 million and N1.3 million for a member of House of Representatives.
The average office running cost for a senator and a member House of Representatives is N13 million and N8 million, respectively.
He pointed out that budget of the National Assembly since 1999 never gone above N150 billion, which accounts for about 3% of the annual budget.
On the issue of constituency projects and zonal intervention projects, he stated that the system allows legislators to nominate projects for implementation in their constituencies but they do not implement them.
“In line with their legislative mandate, they exercise oversight over the process.
Corruption in Nigeria is a complex issue.
“Though corruption in any arm of government is not acceptable and must be condemned, to, however, single out one arm of government without any hard evidence is to undermine the authority of that institution.
“The purchase of operational vehicles for members of the National Assembly has received extensive media attention,” Sen Lawan noted.
He established that if civil servants from rank of assistant director and above are entitled to official vehicles and some ministers have a convoy of cars, he doesn’t see why the allocation of a Toyota Camry and a Land Cruiser to members would be such a hideous proposition.
He further stated that the major factor that contributed to the negative perception of the legislature was political apathy, arising the school of thought that politics is a ‘dirty game’ and politicians are ‘dirty.’
He concluded by promising that the 9th Assembly would continue to improve public perception on the legislature, stating that they’re not a “rubber stamp” Assembly but they only provide a safe atmosphere for national development through cooperative and collaborative efforts with the executive.
He also said the National Assembly required full complement of relevant institutions and agencies to deliver on its constitutional mandate.
The president of the senate said that the focus of the 9th assembly had been on legislations that were most likely to impact either on the democratic institutions, economy, security or the livelihood of Nigerians.
“I dare say that the 9th assembly has been the most successful in the area of lawmaking since 1999.
“We have broken many ‘jinxes’ and done many ‘firsts,’ overcoming traditional obstacles through consensus building and clever political brinkmanship,” Lawan said.
He said that as of November, about 2,500 Bills have been introduced at the National Assembly – 769 at the Senate and 1,634 at the House of Representatives.
“However, as I have repeatedly maintained, for us in the 9th assembly it is not so much the number of bills as it is quality.
“We have focused our energy working on legislations that have a realistic chance of being assented to as well as those that have the potential to impact most on the lives of Nigerians,” Lawan said.
He said that the President Muhammadu Buhari led- administration had been most proficient in granting assent to Bills, stressing that available data on gazetted Acts showed that between 2015 and 2021, Buhari assented to more than 84 Bills, the highest since 1999.
Lawan said that the projection was that the figure would be significantly higher before the end of the president tenure in 2023.