Shehu Sani, a former Senator representing Kaduna Central, has emphasised the importance of transparency in the handling of parliamentary finances, particularly when it comes to senators’ salary and office expenses.
Sani raised his worries in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, responding to Senator Kawu Sumaila’s recent announcement that each senator receives 21 million naira per month for office expenditures.
He said, “Since 1999, one thing that has remained shielded from the public is the allowances, payments, and finances of parliamentarians ”
Reflecting on his own experience, he said, “When I went to the Senate in 2015, I was first on the field as an activist and was one of those calling for the Senate to open its books and the need for transparency and openness for taxpayers, especially to know how much their representatives are earning.”
Sani notably stated in 2017 that his account was credited with 13.5 million naira per month as operating expenses, in addition to his 750,000 naira income.
He explained, “When anybody is elected into the parliament, there are three categories of payment he receives: the salary, the running cost of office, and the constituency project funds. But you are not given this large sum of money. These funds are domiciled in government agencies.”
The former senator however acknowledged the challenges in managing these funds transparently, especially with constituency projects. “The problem emerged when there was no transparency with the way the constituency funds were managed,” he said.
He stated that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) was tasked with supervising these projects during the Buhari administration, but he questioned the commission’s ability to oversee all projects across the country.
Reacting to Senator Kawu’s disclosure, Sani said, “What Kawu did was to second what I did many years ago by disclosing the money.”
He criticised the Resource Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission for downplaying the issue, saying, “When I heard the Resource Mobilisation and Fiscal Allegation Commission making claims that senators are only given 1 million naira, it brought more light on the need for transparency.”
Speaking further, he said, “When people are elected into the legislative arm of government, they should be able to make laws and perform oversight functions as a parliament. They should not be saddled with the responsibility of building schools, roads, and hospitals.”
“When I made that disclosure, 80% of the senators were angry with me,” he said, adding that he was nearly suspended if not for the intervention of former Senate President Bukola Saraki.
Following the current economic challenges in the country, Sani urged the nation’s leaders to make sacrifices. “When a nation in its history is faced with this kind of storm and turbulence, it is expected that the leadership should lead by example in terms of sacrifices. Leaders should be seen making sacrifices for the people to appreciate and say it is the right way to go.”
“When you go to the Senate, whether as PDP, APC, etc., there are rules you have to abide by, and whatever you say has consequences,” he explained.
“If you step one leg different from the current in the Senate, you have a price to pay and are most likely to stand alone.”
