Why I revealed how much senators are earning - Shehu Sani

macfranc007 March 19, 2018 IFTTT, Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Adeola Opeyemi

- Senator Shehu Sani said he disclosed the monthly running costs of senators to discard the secrecy shrouding the National Assembly

- Sani said making the running cost of each senator available to the public will add credibility to the National Assembly

Senator Shehu Sani, representng Kaduna Central senatorial district, said he revealed the running costs of Nigerian lawmakers to maintain honour and credibility of the National Assembly and not to cause controversy in the parliament.

Sani recently disclosed the N750,000 monthly salary and N13.5million monthly running cost received by senators, although members of the senate claimed there is 'nothing new' in Sani's announcement.

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The Nation reports that Sani, who made this statement during a radio interview in Ibadan, said the secrecy surrounding the earnings of National Assembly members is giving the parliament a bad reputation.

He said: “The National Assembly is made up of distinguished personalities – doctors, lawyers, engineers, academics and all who have made it in life. But because of this culture of secrecy and silence, people who found themselves in the National Assembly are criminalised and stigmatised.

“The dome of the National Assembly is being seen to house people of questionable character and integrity. So, what I did was to rescue the honour and credibility of the parliament by removing the veil of secrecy to bring it once and for all to an end.

“ It has been 19 years of civil administration and it has been 19 years of secrecy, of people not wanting to speak out.

“We have reached a point where people speculate and say so many bad things about the National Assembly. You see all sorts of figures of what senators are collecting. Some say N50 million, some speculate N100 million. But whatever people say, naturally, others will believe because there is no counter information, no truth coming from the other side.

“So, I said, ‘I know it is painful, I know that I will lose friends and colleagues within the very establishment that I serve’. But I need to speak because I was part of those who fought and struggled for the restoration of this democracy.

“I went to jail and was in the forefront of the protest against military rule. It is not possible for me to speak against the military rule and now I cannot. And, as such, I say it is temporary pain.”

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NAIJ.com earlier reported that A senator representing Bayelsa east constituency, Ben Murray-Bruce, on Monday, March 12, said that he was resisted by his colleagues when he advocated for lower wages and allowances for public officials and a higher minimum wage for the Nigerian worker.

Ben Bruce in a tweet said he was shut down when he demanded for a higher minimum wages for Nigerian workers, adding that if the legislators are paid higher than European legislators then the workers's salary must be higher than that of European workers.

Should the Nigerian Senate be scrapped? - on NAIJ.com TV