Senate Criticizes Obasanjo, Calls It Uncharitable to Claim NASS Sets Its Own Salaries

The Senate on Sunday tackled former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his comment that lawmakers in both chambers of the National Assembly (NASS) fix their salaries.

In a statement, Senate spokesman Yemi Adaramodu challenged anyone with credible evidence to present contrary facts, describing any suggestion that the National Assembly fixes its salaries as “uncharitable and satanic.”

Adaramodu said the red chamber only receives the salary allocated to it by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in line with the constitution.

The lawmaker, who represents Ekiti South Senatorial District in the 10th NASS, also emphasised that no Senator has received any financial patronage from the Presidency.

He clarified that the constituency projects often linked to the legislature are merely suggested and nominated by Senators, following practices common in other democracies worldwide.

On Friday, Obasanjo, Nigeria’s democratically elected President from May 1999 to May 2007, said it was “immoral” for federal lawmakers to determine their salaries and allowances. Instead, he said, the RMAFC should be saddled with this responsibility.