Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said contrary to public opinion, he earned a total allowance of ₦25m while in office.Dogara who represented the Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal constituency of Bauchi State, served as the 13th Speaker of the House from 2015 to 2019.
He, however, did not specify whether the ₦25m total allowance was monthly, yearly, or for the whole of the four years spent in the House.
Speaking during an event in Abuja on Wednesday, he wondered where the idea of National Assembly members receiving bogus salaries emanated from.
“My allowances, everything as a Speaker then, was ₦25 million. I asked my accountant to open an account for this money because this money was not mine,” he said.
“Even we talk about the allowances the people think are humongous, Mr Speaker forgive me, the House should forgive me.”
The issue of how funds are processed in the National Assembly has been on the front burner of national discourse for a long time. Some Nigerians believe that federal lawmakers receive a jumbo package amid the worsening poverty in the country.
Though the exact salaries of the federal lawmakers have not been made public, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) said in June 2023, that the salaries of politicians, judicial and public office holders would be increased by 114 per cent.
But Dogara maintained that while in office, he never earned up to ₦400,000 as his monthly salary.
Credit: channelstv.com
