Despite public criticisms against the National Assembly’s huge budget, details obtained by Post-Nigeria, show that the 8th Assembly has increased its budget from N115 billion in 2016, to an aggregate of N125 billion this year, making an additional whopping sum of N10,000,000,000 increment.
In the budget President Muhammadu Buhari presented to the joint sitting of the Senate and House of Representatives, in December 2016, the sum of N125 billion was proposed, showing a difference of N10 billion, an amount that could fund some Ministries, Departments and Agencie, MDAs, for a year.
The breakdown of the proposed budget shows a total sum of N23,789,787,880, as total personnel costs, the sum of N85,878,619,888, as total overhead costs, while the sum of N14,940,196,063, has been earmarked for capital projects.
Further breakdown also shows that the House of Representatives has the highest budget of N49,052,743,983, with the Senate coming close with the budget of N31,398,765,886.
The National Assembly Management, is to spend the cumulative sum of N14,919,065,013, while the Legislative Aides are to receive the sum of N9,602,095,928.
Despite the regular budgets of huge sums of money for the Legislative Aides, there have been strong allegations of non-payment of DTAs and other allowances by the management, since the beginning of the 8th Assembly, in 2015.
Just last week, Olutoye Ibitoye, one of the arrowheads in the agitation for payment of outstanding allowances to Legislative Aides, was arrested by the DSS, for attempting to organize a protest against the National Assembly leadership and management.
Also, in the 2017 National Assembly budget, the National Assembly Legislative Institute is expected to spend the sum of N4,373,813,596; the National Assembly Service Commission will spend the sum of N2,415,712,873; while the sum of N391,396,169, is budgeted for Service-Wide Vote.
The Public Account Committee of the House of Representatives in the proposed budget, shall spend the sum of N142,764,258; its Senate counterpart shall spend N118, 960,215, while a whopping sum of N12,584,672,079, has been tagged “General Services”.
Since its inception in 2015, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who is the Chairman of the National Assembly, repeatedly assured that henceforth, the details of its budget would be made known to Nigerians, as part of the efforts to ensure transparency in its operations.