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Senate Defends N13.5m Monthly Pay To Members …As Sagay, Falana, CD Flay Senate Over Allowance
Senate spokesman, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi says the statements made by his colleague from Kaduna State, Senator Shehu Sani, on the salaries and funds for running of offices of Senators did not disclose anything new as the figure he gave out about running cost of the offices of Senators were contained in various line items and expenditure heads of the budget of the National Assembly which has been made public.
Abdullahi dismissed any insinuations that Sani’s colleague were unhappy with him and said if people had looked critically at the budget of the National Assembly, which has since been made public, they would have seen that various line items like traveling, medicals, consultancy and the rest were captured in the budget and they were the funds divided for each Senator’s use.
“Almost all holders of elective and appointive offices have running costs allocated to their offices and that cannot be said to be part of their salaries”, Abdullahi stated.
Senator Shehu Sani speaking about the alleged bogus salaries and allowances of Nigerian lawmakers and divuluged that every Nigerian Senator gets N13.5 million monthly as running costs and about N200 million as constituency Sani said “I think what we can say is that the running cost of a senator is N13.5 million every month,”
According to him, while there is no specific instruction on what the fund should be used for, lawmakers must provide receipts to back up their expenses from the running costs.
He added that the running cost is in addition to funds earmarked for each senator for constituency projects.
“But what I am saying is that that money (N13.5 million per month) must be receipted for what you do with it. But what you are given to go and spend without any accountability is N750,000.00.
“The constituency project itself is given on a zonal basis and almost every Senator will go with a constituency fund of about N200 million, but it is not the cash that is given to you. “You will be told that you have N200 million with an agency of government for which you will now submit projects equivalent to that amount.
And it is that agency of government that will go and do those projects for you. “Now, the corruption comes when the projects are not done and the money is taken. But right now, it is difficult to do that because NGOs and transparency groups have come into it.
They track every allocation made to you and where they are being used. “So, it’s becoming difficult for what used to happen in the past to happen now.
“But I can tell you that I would love a situation where we do away with running costs, constituency projects and leaves senators and members of House of Reps with salaries. ‘And also, the public should be informed that nobody should come to any senator’s house asking for any kobo. That also would be helpful.
“There are issues that we need to understand. First, I don’t believe that members of the National or even state assemblies should be involved in carrying out what is called constituency projects. “When people are elected into the National Assembly, they should just be involved in law making, raising motions, bills and also performing oversight functions.
But we live in a society where people cannot differentiate between the legislators and the executive. “When the people come to you, they want you to build roads, dig boreholes, build hospitals, schools, give money, pay school fees for them.
Now, if we have a society in which people will stop asking legislators to do those things, then there is no need (for the allowances) But funny enough, if you are very active in the National Assembly in making laws and you don’t embark on projects in your constituency, you cannot in any way be appreciated by the people you are there to serve because the electorates in United States are different from the electorates in the United States and Africa.
“We live in an underdeveloped society with a lot of poverty, misery and wants. What people want is for you to address those basic fundamental issues that affects their lives.
“If we can be done with that, it would be okay. Now, you are talking of bogus salaries and bogus allowances – there are three steps you need to consider – the first has to do with the fact when you represent the people, expectations arose from your immediate and the larger constituencies.
“But I agree with you that the salaries and allowances of lawmakers should not be discreet, but what is discreet about it when you can write to Resource and Fiscal Mobilization Commission to get everything about what a senator earns?.
The only money you are not expected to account for is your salary and the salary of a senator is about N750, 000.00 per month. The other one, the running cost of office must be accounted for. You must provide a receipt for every expense you make.”
Meanwhile, prominent Nigerians and groups yesterday took a swipe at the National Assembly over the N13.5m running cost being paid to senators.
The Campaign for Democracy, senior lawyers, including Mr. Femi Falana, Mr. Yusuf Ali and Prof. Itse Sagay, in separate interviews with newsmen, also commended Senator Shehu Sani for the disclosure.
Sani had, in an interview with newsmen, revealed that each senator received N13.5m monthly as running cost apart from the N700,000 consolidated salary and allowances paid to each of them.
Sagay said Sani’s revelation had vindicated him on his criticism of the lawmakers.
Sagay said. “I’ve always said they earn too much. This figure by Sanni does not include constituency allowances, which is in billions of naira.
“We still have budget padding from which millions are made by them. By the time you put all that together, you can see that these people are collecting a huge chunk of the Nigerian budget.”
The CD, in its reaction, said the N13.5m running cost could employ over 100 graduates in the country.
The CD President, Usman Abdul, in an interview with newsmen, said the huge earnings by the senators contributed to the bastardisation of the economy.
He said, “You can take good care of over 100 graduates from a senator’s salary. The legislature should deliberate on the abject poverty and unemployment in the country.”
Also speaking, Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Jiti Ogunye, said Sani must be commended for his courage.
Ogunye said, “What Senator Shehu Sani said has confirmed the long-held fears of Nigerians that Nigerian legislators, both at the state and national levels, have been short-changing Nigerians.
“They are not expected to use that elevated position to serve their own interest at the expense of public interest. They are not expected to allow their self-consideration to override their commitment to abiding by the law.”
The Vice-President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Monday Ubani, said Nigerians must demand a review of the lawmakers’ earnings.
Ubani, “It means that Nigerians have not been getting a fair deal from our legislators. If a single person will be earning that kind of money in a country where the minimum wage is N18,000; something has to be done. We need to insist on a review of these jumbo allowances.”
The Executive Chairman, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Mr. Debo Adeniran, said Nigerians had a right to be displeased because they had not been getting a fair deal from the lawmakers.
Adeniran said, “The outcry wouldn’t have been if the legislators have been living up to the expectation of their constituents. Nigerians don’t see the lawmakers as people who are representing their interest.”
Falana said Sani’s revelation had proved that Nigerian legislators were the highest paid in the world.
Falana, in a statement yesterday, said, “Apart from the monthly package of N13.5m, each senator is given the opportunity to execute constituency projects to the tune of N200m per annum. However, the disclosure made by Senator Sani does not cover the allowances for cars, housing, wardrobe and furniture running to several millions of naira approved for each senator.”
Also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yusuf Ali, said the allowance was insensitive given the state of the economy and the minimum wage of the workers in the country.
He said, “Even if there were no mass unemployment and if the economy were buoyant, suchallowance is totally unrelated to our circumstances; it is very insensitive.”
The Head of Abuja office of Social Action, a non-governmental organisation, Mrs. Vivian Bellonwu-Okafor, said the revelation was another sad commentary in the history of political offices emolument in Nigeria.
A former Managing Director of Unity Bank Plc, Mr Rislanudeen Mohammed, said there was no justification for the N13.5m monthly pay.
But the Senate said there was nothing new in what Sani said.
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have foiled attempts by drug trafficking syndicates to smuggle illicit substances concealed in carton walls, winter jackets, and body cream containers through Murtala Muhammed International Airport and a Lagos-based courier firm.
The agency said two consignments bound for Italy were intercepted at the Lagos airport, leading to the arrest of suspects linked to the shipments.
In a statement released yesterday, the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said one of the suspects, 37-year-old Friday Ehianuka, was intercepted on Friday, March 20, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Rome, Italy.
The statement partly read, “Two of the consignments heading to Italy were to be moved through the Lagos airport where two suspects linked to the shipments were promptly arrested.
“One of them, 37-year-old Friday Ehianuka, was going to Rome, Italy on Friday, March 20, 2026, when he was intercepted while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight with 2,698 pills of tramadol 225mg concealed in containers of skin-lightening body cream, all packed in the suspect’s luggage.
“In his statement, Ehianuka, who is a resident of Milan, confirmed that he was to be paid a negotiated fee in Euros if he had succeeded in trafficking the consignment to Italy.”
In another operation on Wednesday, March 18, Babafemi said NDLEA officers at the departure hall intercepted another passenger, Christian Agbonhese, attempting to board a Lufthansa flight to Milan.
A search of his luggage uncovered 23,150 pills of tramadol 225mg, 4,000 tablets of tapentadol 250mg, and 1,320 pills of tramadol 100mg concealed in two large winter jackets.
“No fewer than 23,150 pills of tramadol 225mg; 4,000 tablets of tapentadol 250mg; and 1,320 pills of tramadol 100mg, all concealed in two large winter jackets, bringing the total number of opioids recovered from him to 28,470 pills. The 38-year-old Agbonhese is also a resident of Milan,” the statement added.
In a separate operation at a courier firm in Lagos, Babafemi said NDLEA officers on Monday, March 16, intercepted two parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 1kg, hidden in a carton shipped from the United States.
“Also thwarted was an attempt to export 158 grams of methamphetamine concealed in the walls of a carton to New Zealand,” he said.
In Kano State, operatives arrested Abdulkadir Mamuda, 35, with 102.5kg of skunk at Dan-Tsalle, while another suspect, Uche Johnson Festus, 47, was nabbed at Naibawa Gabas with 95.5kg of the same substance.
Babafemi said the agency also recovered 21,737 bottles of codeine-based syrup during a raid at Otto, Ijora area of Lagos on Wednesday, March 18, adding that two suspects, Chidiebere Anigbogu and Paul Nwagbara, were arrested the same day on the Third Mainland Bridge while conveying 8,380 bottles of the syrup.
In Edo State, operatives recovered 97.5kg of skunk from the residence of Akeem Idde, 37, in Ojah, Akoko-Edo Local Government Area on March 16.
In the FCT, officers intercepted a commercial bus along the Gwagwalada Expressway on March 18, recovering 91,840 pills of tramadol hidden in body compartments of the vehicle. The driver, Aminu Ali, 27, was arrested.
In Oyo State, a suspect, Bankole Bari, was on Tuesday, March 17, arrested at Oke-Oyan, Ibarapa LGA, with 71.2kg of skunk, which he smuggled into Nigeria from Benin Republic through the Oyan River.
In a similar development, “Not less than 586,000 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 were recovered by NDLEA operatives from Lawal Anas, 28, along Kaduna-Zaria Highway, Kaduna, on Tuesday, March 17, while 7,290 tablets of tramadol 225mg were seized from Musa Shuaibu, 22, at the same location on Friday, March 20,” Babafemi said.
In Taraba State, officers intercepted Aliyu Adamu, 26, along the Takum-Jalingo Highway with 77,660 capsules of tramadol, while in Adamawa State, six suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure of 82.8kg of tramadol in a truck in Yola.
The suspects include Ramatu Aliyu, Jungudo Abdullahi, Najid Abdullahi, Musa Mohammed, Usman Abdulrahim, and Musa Mohammed.
The agency said its commands across the country also intensified War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, and communities during the week.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the MMIA, DOGI, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Oyo, FCT, Taraba, and Adamawa commands for the arrests and seizures, urging them to sustain the balanced approach to drug control efforts.
News
RSG Applauds FRSC, NDLEA For Enhancing Security In Rivers …As NDLEA Pushes For Drug Tests In Schools, NYSC Camps
The Rivers State Government has commended the dedication and collaboration of federal government agencies in sustaining security in the State.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by the State Commander of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), CN Bature Dawa, in Port Harcourt, last week, the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Dagogo Wokoma, said Governor Siminalayi Fubara appreciates the strong synergy between the agencies in promoting his administration’s vision of peace, prosperity and progress in the State.
Wokoma urged residents to remain law-abiding, noting that respect for the law is essential for good governance and sustainable development in all parts of the state.
He stated that the governor has remained committed to initiatives that promote peace and social order, stressing that the administration will continue to support programmes of federal agencies aimed at strengthening security and public safety.
“Our governor is committed to peace, progress and prosperity in Rivers State. I therefore encourage all residents, especially young people who are often targeted by those involved in drug abuse, to stay away from drugs, crime and reckless driving,” he said.
In his remarks, the State NDLEA boss, Dawa, disclosed that the agency has arrested 39 suspects in the state from December 2025 to date, including 16 new cases currently under investigation.
He explained that the NDLEA, through its Drug Demand Reduction and Drug Supply Control Units, has intensified efforts to curb the spread of illicit drugs and ensure offenders are brought to justice.
Dawa also called on parents and guardians to closely monitor their children, while urging hotel owners and managers to remain vigilant and prevent their facilities from being used for drug-related activities.
He further advocated the introduction of drug integrity tests in schools and within the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme as part of measures to discourage drug abuse among young people.
In a related development, Dr Wokoma received the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), CC Inyang Umoh, during a courtesy visit, and urged residents to abide by road safety laws and drive in consideration of other road users.
In his remarks, the FRSC boss expressed appreciation to Governor Fubara for the continuous support to the Corps.
Muslims in Rivers State have commended Governor Siminialayi Fubara for his dedication and commitment to the development of the state.
They also lauded the governor for promoting peaceful co-existence among various religious groups in the state.
Vice President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs ,Alhaji Nasil Awhelegbe Uhor, gave the commendation last Friday during the Eid-el Fitri prayer to mark the end of Ramadan fasting period, at the Port Harcourt Central Mosque, Niger Street, Port Harcourt.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the prayer, Alhaji Uhor said Governor Fubara has shown exemplary leadership in the affairs of the state.
Uhor who is the leader of the South South Muslim Ummah of Nigeria, called on Muslims to remain committed to the ideal of peace and fear of the Almighty Allah.
According to the Rivers State Islamic leader, the message is for Muslims to imbibe and allow the lessons of Ramadan to sink into their lives and shape their ways of doing things.
He urged Muslims to imbibe the culture of love and respect for one another.
“My message is that all Muslims should imbibe and allow the lessons of Ramadan to sink with them,” he advised.
Uhor stressed the need for Muslims and all Nigerians to remain patriotic, while avoiding all forms of anti-social behaviours.
He also called on the political leaders to put the country first, stressing that there is no need for Nigerians to continue to wallow in abject poverty when the country is so rich with natural resources.
Also speaking, the Chief Imam of Rivers State, Alhaji Ibrahim S Yalo, urged Muslims to fear God, and speak the truth always.
According to him, time has come for Nigerians to cultivate the habit of peaceful coexistence, speak the truth and be each others keeper.
“Nigerians own a duty to ensure peace, live together in fear of God and speak the truth always,” he said.
By: John Bibor