The housing allowances for members of the National Assembly may cost the country about N5.87bn yearly, according to findings.
With the annual allocation of N5.87bn, in
four years the Federal Government will spend N23.48bn on the lawmakers’
accommodation.
The allowances are based on data collated
from a document obtained from the website of the Revenue Mobilisation and
Fiscal Allocation Commission.
It covers allowances for accommodation (200
per cent of basic salary), domestic staff (75 per cent of basic salary),
utilities (30 per cent of basic salary), house maintenance (five per cent of
basic salary), wardrobe (25 per cent of basic salary) and furniture (300 per
cent of basic salary).
Also, although furniture allowance is usually
paid once in four years for public office holders, the frequency of payment is
not disclosed for members of the National Assembly.
From the total amount, the housing allowances
of the Senators will cost about N1.38bn yearly.
The amount for the Senate President and
Deputy Senate President was not disclosed by the RMAFC. Therefore, the amount
covers only the allowances for the 107 senators.
A breakdown shows that N4.05m was allocated
for accommodation, N1.52m for domestic staff, N607,920 for utilities, N101,320
for house maintenance, N506,600 for wardrobe allowance, and N6.08m for
furniture allowance.
The housing allowances of the House of
Representatives members will cost N4.49bn yearly.
The amount for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker
was not disclosed by the RMAFC. In addition, Isma’ila Maihanchi, member-elect
of the House of Representatives for Jalingo/Yorro/Zing federal constituency in
Taraba, is reportedly dead. Also, Femi Gbajabiamila, a former Speaker of the
House of Representatives, resigned from the 10th House to take up his new
position as the chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu. Therefore, the amount
covers only the allowances for the 356 House of Representatives members.
Allocation breakdown
A breakdown shows that N3.97m was allocated
for accommodation, N1.48m for domestic staff, N595,563.75 for utilities,
N99,260.62 for house maintenance, N496,303.12 for wardrobe allowance, and
N5.96m for furniture allowance.
Since the allocations for the Senate
President and his deputy and the Speaker and his Deputy were not disclosed, it
means that the N5.87bn is likely below the total amount the members of the
National Assembly would get as housing allowances yearly.
Prices of residential apartments in the
highbrow areas of the Federal Capital Territory have surged by at least 60 per
cent due to the high demand for houses by the newly inaugurated members of the
national assembly.
The areas include Maitama, Asokoro, Wuse, and
other locations close to the city centre.
A member of staff of a real estate firm, who
spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the new
surge in prices, adding that it was natural for prices of homes to increase
with over 900 persons looking for residential apartments at the same time.
The staff member said, “Yes it has, we have
over 400 NASS members with over 500 support staff looking for housing
accommodation at the same time so automatically the force of demand and supply
has come into play so the cost of housing has jacked up.”
Giving further explanation, a real estate
agent, Bimbo, blamed the current economic realities caused by the removal of
fuel subsidy and high inflation as part of the reasons for the outrageous surge
in prices.
The agent further revealed that some of the
senators have in the meantime decided to reside at short-let apartments pending
the time they can buy their preferred residence outrightly.
The agent said, “Prices of houses in posh
areas have increased drastically. Houses available for rent now go for N6m from
N3m before the inauguration, other smaller places for their aides that were
around N800,000 now sell for almost N1.4m. Most of the senators prefer to buy
than rent and this is even more expensive, a house in those posh will cost not
less than N150m.
“Also, it is not solely because of the
arrival of new senators but due to current economic realities caused by the
removal of fuel subsidy. Even with this number, there are still empty houses
that are not occupied and the owners will instead leave them to waste than sell
them for a lesser amount.
“I have also noticed that some senators
prefer to stay in short lets apartments for the meantime before getting their
apartments. For instance, I know someone that paid to stay in an apartment for
N1m per month.”
On his part, the Executive Director of the
Housing Development Advocacy Group, Festus Adebayo, welcomed the new
development as it would drive positive change in the sector.
He, however, warned that this may affect
prices of rent beyond the affordability of a good number of workers who are
salary earners.
“Abuja is receiving over a thousand new
entrants daily. The real estate sector will witness positive development but
that means rent will go beyond the affordability of a good number of workers.
Most landlords increase rent once the old payment expires.
“Government must provide palliative not only
for govt workers but for Nigerian workers in housing.”
Post a Comment