The National Assembly of Nigeria, comprising the Senators and members of the House of Representatives, received a total of N6.78 billion as their official salaries and allowances in one year (2023), according to an investigation by Economic Confidential.
This amount includes various allowances such as annual salaries, accommodation, vehicle maintenance and fuel, personal assistants, house maintenance, domestic staff, entertainment and utilities, constituency allowance, annual leave, hardship allowance, wardrobe, newspapers, and responsibility allowances.
Each Senator receives an annual salary of N2.02 million, while a member of the House of Representatives receives N1.98 million as their annual basic salary. The Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives have an annual basic salary of N2.48 million and N2.47 million respectively. The deputy Senate President and Deputy Speaker earn N2.30 million and N2.28 million annually respectively.
In addition to their annual basic salary, each member of the National Assembly receives 200% of their annual salary for accommodation, 75% for vehicle maintenance, 25% for personal assistants, 5% for house maintenance, 75% for domestic staff, 30% for both entertainment and utilities. Other non-regular allowances include furniture and severance gratuity which are due only once in four years. Estacode allowances are paid in US Dollars for foreign trips and Duty Tour allowance which is paid in Naira for local trips within Nigeria.
The Senate alone consumed N1.85 billion in one year with 109 senators while the House of Representatives with 360 members gulped N4.93 billion in the same period. An average Nigerian worker with a minimum wage of N18,000 a month will have to work for four years before earning the utility allowance for one legislator.
