Jumbo Salary: Open your finances to public— Ex-Speaker Dogara tells NASS

Yakubu Dogara, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, has asked the National Assembly to open its books to the public to end all speculations about the remuneration of the lawmakers.

Mr Dogara, speaker of the 8th House, said the demands from constituents far outweighed the remuneration he was getting while in office.

He spoke at the Open NASS session organised by the House at the National Assembly Complex on Wednesday.

The ex-lawmaker disclosed that as the speaker of the House, his salary was N400,000 with N25 million allowance.

Mr Dogara said opening the finances of the legislature to the public would help the lawmakers in the long run because it will “limit the financial demands on them occasioned by the belief that they earn huge salaries and allowances.”

“While I was Speaker, my salary was N400,000, and my total allowance was N25 million. I told my accountant to open a separate account for the allowances, and I never for once took any money out of that account. Everything that came into that account was used to cater for the needs of constituents.

“My accountant complained of the level of demand on the account, and I told him if the money there is finished, borrow, and when money comes, you return it to where you had taken money from.

“I am saying this so Nigerians will give their legislators breathing space and know that the narrative is not true about members’ pay.”

Dogara making a U-turn on Open NASS

As speaker, Mr Dogara declined calls for a more transparent National Assembly. He even got into a public spat with the then-governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, over calls for transparency.

Mr El-Rufai had challenged him to make the details of the National Assembly’s N115 billion budget at the time public.

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Instead, he released only part of his pay slips but declined the call for full disclosure of his pay.

Furthermore, in 2017, details of its budget were released – after an #OpenNASS campaign admonishing the legislature to open its books to the public and take possible cuts on its finances, especially at a time of financial uncertainties.

However, the lawmakers have refused to disclose the details of their budget and continue to increase their allocation despite the strained fiscal position of the country.