Saraki and Dogara inflate National Assembly wage bill with over 400 aides on high pay

MEMBERS of the National Assembly have expressed concern about the fact that senate president Senator Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives speaker Yakubu Dogara and their deputies have hired over 400 aides with some earning as much as permanent secretaries.

 

Following the inauguration of the National Assembly in June last year and the emergence of both men as heads of the two chambers, Senator Saraki is said to have over 112 aides, while Hon Dogara has about 170.  Deputy senate president Senator Ike Ekweremadu has 60 assistants, while deputy speaker Hon Yusuf Suleiman Lasun, has 58.

 

Management of the National Assembly has advised the presiding officers and their deputies to reduce their aides by at least 60% to reduce running costs. Senator Saraki and Hon Dogara were requested to cut down the numbers to 25 each while Senator Ekweremadu and Hon Lasun should have 17 each.

 

These aides are in three categories comprising of special advisers, senior special assistants and special assistants, whose salaries range between N700,000 (£2,450) to over 1m (£3,500) monthly. Apparently, the special advisers earn about the same salaries as federal permanent secretaries, while the others earn higher than directors in federal government establishments.

 

To make matters worse, these jumbo packages come on top of revelations about  how N10bn was paid as severance packages to Senate and House legislative aides that served in the seventh assembly. Their severance pay was 300% of their annual basic salaries.

 

In January, the presiding officers of both chambers met with the National Assembly management, who stated that that they could not guarantee regular payment of salaries of their aides, with most of them placed on higher grade levels. As a result, the salaries of all the political appointees have not been paid since January, yet, they hang around the National Assembly complex or stay in their colleagues’ offices as they have no offices of their own.

 

About half of Hon Dogara's aides are former lawmakers who served with him during the last seventh Assembly. Most of them were said to have been rewarded for their support for Hon Dogara, while a few others were nominated by some close friends to the speaker.

 

National Assembly management made two suggestions to the speaker about how to manage the situation. Hon Dogara was advised to demote most of the special advisers to senior special assistants, while a majority of the senior special assistants should be demoted to personal assistants.