No jumbo pay for lawmakers, I receive N750,000 as salary

President of Nigerian Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said that contrary to popular view, no member of the National Assembly receives jumbo pay.

Lawan further revealed that his monthly salary as a lawmaker is N750,000.

He made the disclosure while receiving members of the Senators’ Forum who paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said, “We owe Nigerians everything. The National Assembly is going to be open to the public. I believe that the National Assembly will throw everything open to the public.

“Let Nigerians know what we are doing but one thing I want to emphasize here is that I don’t believe in anything called jumbo pay to the National Assembly.

“Members both in the Senate and the House receive what is their salary. I receive N750,000 as my salary but I need to function as a senator. My office needs to be properly funded. Therefore, I cannot conduct my oversight without some funding.

“So I believe that Nigerians need to understand this. We need to continue to explain to Nigerians and I will also urge you to explain to Nigerians because they need to be kept abreast with happenings in the National Assembly.

“They deserve to know how their resources are being utilized and this is what we will continue to do. I believe that the National Assembly needs proper funding because the legislature is so critical to any development. When an institution is going to legislate on almost everything under the sun they should have the best and Nigerians should have the best outcome.

“The public also need to know what our functions and roles are. I believe that we should continue with the Open NASS.

“In 2018 we had the first version of the Open NASS where individuals, NGOs, were invited and we had a lot of activities with the public. We will continue with that.

“We will enhance it so that Nigerians can come to the National Assembly, see what we do and I believe that Nigerians would understand what we are doing here and why we attract some funding and continue to attract some funding.

“So we continue to do those things that will make Nigeria a stable and prosperous country where everybody would be proud to be a citizen.”

On the submission of the budget, Lawan noted that early presentation of the budget will give the National Assembly the opportunity to pass the budget within three months.

He noted that early submission of the budget will enable the country to return to the January-December budget circle.

“We don’t have any doubt. We know the challenges. We will work hard to solve the challenges. We will pass the budget in three months. All we require is for the Executive to submit the budget on time, at least September or first October,” he said.