The Senate after an hour close door session on Wednesday, stood down the report of its ad hoc committee on the Review of National Assembly Finance, for further consideration.
The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, who made the disclosure, said the reason for temporarily halting the report was to carry out further consideration on it.
“The senate in a closed door session deliberated on the report of its committee on finance and approved that it should be stood down for further consideration,” the Senate President said.
It will be recalled that an ad-hoc committee on finance was constituted by the Senate President on on June 25, to review salaries, allowances and overhead cost of running the National Assembly.
The committee was constituted to realign the finance of lawmakers to reflect the present economic realities in the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that following concerns raised by Nigerians about lawmakers’ wardrobe allowances, Mr Elias Mbam, Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), met with the President of the Senate on June 17.
In the meeting, Mbam said the 2008 Remuneration Act was being reviewed and would be ready at the end of the third quarter of 2015
The call to make public salaries and allowances of lawmakers and to review same, considering the present economic realities of the country has intensified in recent times.
The President, Muhammadu Buhari and his vice, Yemi Osinbajo have already agreed to a 50% cut in their salaries, while unconfirmed reports have it that the total budget of the national assembly had already been reduced.
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