Fact Check
FACT CHECK: Do Nigerian senators enjoy the highest salary among lawmakers in the world?
Claim:
A Nigerian Senator earns $2,183,685 annually and it takes 1638 years for an average worker to earn such an amount.
Conclusion:
False. The salary plus statutory allowances of a Nigerian senator was compared with their counterparts in other countries. Germany, Great Britain, United States of America, Canada and even South Africa pay their lawmakers higher than Nigeria. The ratio of the minimum wage earner to that of a Nigerian senator is 81:06 which means it will take 81 years for an individual on minimum wage to acquire the salary of a Nigerian senator.
Full Text:
A viral WhatsApp message prepared a list with the title “Senators Annual Pay Worldwide” and just before the listing, there is a sentence screaming for attention “OUR ECONOMY CAN’T TAKE CARE OF SENATORS ANY LONGER”
The message broadcast 11 countries in comparison with Nigeria listed at the bottom.
Sri Lanka –$5100
Malaysia — $25,300
Spain–$43,900
Ghana — $46,500
Saudi Arabia — $64,000
France — $85,900
South Africa — $104,000
Great Britain — $105,000
Germany — $119,500
Canada — $154,000
United States — $174,000
Nigeria –$2,183,685
The broadcast went ahead to give a breakdown of the high payment made to a Nigerian senator to include allowances including hardship, constituency, newspaper, wardrobe, recess, accommodation, utilities, domestic staff, entertainment, personal assistants, vehicle maintenance, leave, car and severance gratuity.
In conclusion, the broadcast message went ahead to compare the salary of a senator to an average worker and made an inference that it will take an average worker over 1000 years to meet the annual take home pay of a Nigerian Senator
Verification:
First, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Great Britain and Germany do not run a Senate arm as part of their parliamentary system.
While they are called Members of the Parliament in Sri Lanka, South Africa, Ghana and Great Britain, they are called Shura Council in Saudi Arabia and Bundestag in Germany.
Verifying the comparison list in the broadcast, Ripples Nigeria can confirm that a Sri Lankan Member of Parliament gets the lowest at $3546.25 including salary and statutory allowances issued on a monthly basis as against the $5100 quoted. The German Bundestag gets the highest payment at $204,971.04 annually while the Nigerian Senator gets $70,911.69 annually to include basic salary and statutory allowance paid annually.
Country | Salary in local currency | Salary in US$ | Exchange rate |
Sri Lanka | RS 708,285 | 3,546.25 | US$1= RS199.73 |
Malaysia | RM110,553.48 | 26,394.45 | US$= RM 4.19 |
Spain | €42,709.24 | 50,055.66 | €1=US$1.17 |
Ghana | Ghc 155,652.01 | 25,770.20 | US$1= Ghc 6.04 |
Saudi Arabia | SR240,000 | 63,982.68 | US$1= SR 3.75 |
France | €66,144 | 77,521.43 | €1=US$1.17 |
South Africa | R1,137,933 | 76,283.59 | US$1= R14.92 |
Britain | £65738 | 89,962.39 | £1 = US$1.37 |
Germany | €174881.76 | 204,961.42 | €1=US$1.17 |
Canada | CA$160,800 | 127,089.52 | US$1=CA$1.27 |
United States | US$174,000 | 174,000 | —- |
Nigeria | ₦29,180,160 | 70,911.69 | US$1= ₦411.50 |
The data for Spain, Ghana and Saudi Arabia only cater for the annual salary with no consideration of allowances.
While the table shows the recent payment made to the lawmakers in different countries, it does not have the same value as written in the viral WhatsApp message nor does a Nigerian Senator acquire a whopping sum of $2 million annually.
The details of the breakdown is faulty as a Nigerian Senator’s basic salary as detailed by the revenue mobilisation, allocation and fiscal commission is ₦2,026,400 as against ₦2,484,245 mentioned in the broadcast message.
Read also: FACT CHECK: Is TETFUND giving Nigerian students N30,000 grant?
Also, there is no hardship allowance given. The constituency allowance is 250 percent of the basic salary as against 200 percent. Domestic staff allowance is 75 percent which contradicts the 70 percent claim made by the author.
The post also mentioned some allowances as statutorily paid annually, but no, the recess and severance gratuity is paid once in four years. While recess is paid during tenure, severance gratuity is paid after successful completion of tenure.
The author wrote a car allowance as being given to Nigerian senators, but that is actually a loan that must be paid back before the expiration of their tenure.
Excluding allowances paid once in four years and loans given to the senator, a member of the Senate goes home with ₦2,431,680 (US$5,909.31) on a monthly basis and ₦29,180,160 (US$70,911.69) annually before tax, which faults the claim that a Nigeria senator receives a monthly salary of ₦29,479,749 and annual pay of ₦353,756,988
Senator’s Salary vs Nigerian Worker
The post illustrated that the average Nigerian Worker earns 18,000 naira, it is false as the current minimum wage in Nigeria is ₦30,000 monthly, and ₦360,000.
According to PayScale Salary data and career research centre (Nigeria). A research platform based in the United States of America published the following professions and the average salary they receive annually.
Nurse –₦808,000
Graphic designer –₦607,000
Civil engineer — ₦1,258, 718
Project Manager — ₦3,030,417
HR — ₦2,178,035
Comparing these professionals to Nigerian senator
Annual Take home of a Nigerian Senator is ₦29,180,160 | ||
Professionals | Average annual salary (₦) | Ratio to Nigeria senator (to the ne |
Minimum wage earner | 360,000 | 81.056 |
Nurse | 808,000 | 36.11 |
Graphic design | 607,000 | 48.07 |
Engineer | 1,258,718 | 23.18 |
Project manager | 3,030,417 | 9.63 |
HR | 2,178, 035 | 13.40 |
This means that a Nigerian senator collects what 81 workers on minimum wage, 36 nurses on average salary, 48 graphic designers, 23 engineers, about 10 project managers and 13 HR managers receive annually.
Claim that led to fact check
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