![Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele[PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Opeyemi Bamidele]](https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2024/08/435976662_122150007716082443_1542380181830299796_n-e1724054672958.jpg?fit=602%2C390&ssl=1)
The Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles allocated to each of the 109 senators and Toyota Prado SUVs purchased for the 360 members of the House of Representatives were acquired to facilitate constituency operations, Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, has said.
Mr Bamidele, who represents Ekiti Central Senatorial District on the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said the vehicles are official assets of the National Assembly and not personal property of lawmakers, suggesting they could even be withdrawn at the end of their tenure.
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The senator stated this during a media briefing on Monday while reacting to a recent judgement by a Federal High Court in Lagos declaring the National Assembly’s controversial N110 billion vehicle procurement and allowance schemes, unlawful.
The suit was filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), which sought to restrain the National Assembly from spending public funds on luxury vehicles for lawmakers.
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At the inception of the 10th National Assembly in 2023, parliamentary managers procured Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs for senators and Toyota Prado models for House members, with prices reportedly exceeding N100 million per vehicle.
The National Assembly management has always bought vehicles for the federal lawmakers since the restoration of democracy in the country in 1999.
In 2015, members of the National Assembly received Peugeot 508 saloon cars, while Toyota Camry models were acquired for lawmakers in 2020.
The trial judge, Yellim Bogoro, held that the expenditure violated procurement laws, constitutional provisions and the principles of public trust.
Mr Bogoro ruled that spending public funds on luxury vehicles for lawmakers at a time when millions of Nigerians struggle to meet basic needs demonstrated a failure to prioritise the national interest.
He consequently ordered the leadership of the National Assembly to ensure that future procurement processes and public expenditure strictly comply with due process and are guided by transparency, accountability and value for money.
Vehicles not personal properties
Mr Bamidele said he was aware of the court’s decision but maintained that the vehicles were procured to support constituency work.
“When it comes to the SUVs, these cars are not personal. Every car that is given to a senator, yes a Land Cruiser, and every car that is given to a House of Rep member, a Camry or Prado or whatever it is, it is not given to us as a personal car. It is given to do constituency runs,” he said.
The senate leader noted that other categories of public officers, including ministers, permanent secretaries, directors and chief administrative officers, are also entitled to official vehicles, with some ministers having access to fleets of vehicles
“They are official cars to which other categories of public office holders are entitled to. Directors have their official cars, assistant directors have and sometimes chief admin officers have, not to talk of permanent secretaries. Honourable ministers have fleet of cars.
“What is happening to the parliament of Nigeria is not a strange peculiarity. Parliamentarians are not popular in other parts of the world because in most part, members of the executives are not comfortable with them. The executive arm will feel parliamentarians are oversighting them and oversight responsibility attract enmity,” he added.
As part of efforts to promote transparency, Mr Bamidele urged the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to publish the salaries, allowances and benefits of all public office holders.
“To make the matter worse, we have not told the public that this is how much we earn and hopefully, this is part of the issues that will be addressed going forward especially as we plan for another assembly. There will be no way to address it than to tell RMAFC to publish it and in doing that not only publish for National Assembly. Also, publish for honourable ministers, publish for National Assembly members and publish for all categories of public officers and settle the matter once,” he said. .
Mr Bamidele’s call for the publication of the remuneration of other public officials could generate another controversy, given the perceptions of opulence among Nigeria’s political elite. Public disclosure of such benefits may intensify scrutiny of government spending.
Although the Nigerian Constitution permits lawmakers to receive salaries, allowances and certain loans, the National Assembly has frequently operated beyond the remuneration framework prescribed by RMAFC, the agency empowered to determine the earnings of public office holders.
PREMIUM TIMES had earlier reported how presiding officers of the Nigerian National Assembly are basking in opulence, flaunting fleets of luxury cars that cost billions of naira at a time when millions of Nigerians can barely feed themselves.
Critics have constantly argued that this practice contravenes Section 84 of the Constitution, which requires adherence to RMAFC’s approved remuneration structure.
Under RMAFC guidelines, lawmakers are entitled to optional vehicle loans capped at 400 per cent of their annual basic salary. Based on this formula, a senator earning an annual basic salary of N2.02 million qualifies for a vehicle loan of approximately N8.1 million, while a House member earning N1.9 million annually is eligible for about N7.9 million. These figures are significantly lower than the cost of the luxury vehicles procured by the National Assembly.
Allowance benefits for lawmakers
Mr Bamidele also rejected claims that lawmakers receive excessively high salaries, stating that public misconceptions about lawmakers’ earnings often create unrealistic expectations from constituents.
“This whole thing is shrouded in some mystery. People tend to assume that I have more than I claimed to have. Sometimes, when I do something, it’s not even sure whether they will tell me thank you because it is not sure whether I have done enough or he assumed that I could have done much better.
“But, one thing that I will still say is that we, the legislators, do not fix our own salaries. We do not fix our remuneration. It is done by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, it is not our making.”
The earnings of Nigerian lawmakers have long been a subject of public controversy, largely due to the secrecy surrounding their total renumeration.
Salaries of public office holders are officially prepared by RMAFC, but lawmakers also receive additional running costs determined internally by the National Assembly Commission, which remain undisclosed to the public.
RMAFC Chairperson, Muhammed Shehu, recently clarified that each senator earns N1,063,860 monthly salary and allowance.
The breakdown is: basic salary of N168,866:70; motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance allowance – N126,650; N42,216:66 for personal assistant; domestic staff – N126,650:00; entertainment – N50,660:00; utilities – N50,660; newspapers/periodicals – N25,330:00; Wardrobe allowance – N42,216,66:00; house maintenance – N8,443.33 and constituency allowance – N422,166:66; respectively.
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However, the total earnings rise significantly when running costs are factored in. In October 2024, Abia North Senator, Orji Kalu, revealed on Channels Television that he earns N14 million monthly when all benefits are included.
Mr Kalu’s claim contradicts what Kano South senator Kawu Sumaila disclosed the same year. In August, Mr Sumaila, told BBC Hausa that his monthly salary at the time was less than N1 million. Still, when the running cost is included, he earns at least N21 million monthly, like his colleagues.
These disparities fuel criticisms among Nigerians, especially as the cost of living continues to worsen, food prices have doubled, transportation costs remain high and poverty levels keep rising.
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