Abuja, July 3, 2024 – Yakubu Dogara, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, on Wednesday said his total allowance while in office was N25 million, while his monthly salary was N400,000.
Dogara represented the Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal constituency of Bauchi State.
He was the 13th Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019.
Dogara said this during the Open Week celebration of the House of Representatives in Abuja.
“While I was Speaker my salary was N400,000 and my total allowance was N25 million, I told my accountant to open a separate account for the allowances and I never for once took any money out of that account. Everything that came into that account was used to cater for the needs of constituents.
“My accountant complained of the level of demand on the account and I told him ‘If the money there is finished, borrow, and when money comes, you should return to where you had taken money from.’
“I am saying this so Nigerians will give their legislator breathing space and know that the narrative is not true about members’ pay,” he said.
Dogara even said he never earned up to ₦400,000 as monthly salary.
“I don’t know whether they have increased it, but when I was there, my salary was not up to ₦400,000 a month.
“A young man in my constituency said, ‘You mean this is your salary? I can even hire you to work for me.
“Honestly speaking, there was never a time I took one naira out of that account home. As a matter of fact, there was never a time that money lasted three days.
“I am saying this so that even Honourable members who are here should let the speaker and deputy speaker breathe.
“Whatever a member gets, citizens must know this. No matter how stingy that member is because of expectations from our citizens, it is very difficult for that money to last for a month in the hands of that member,” Dogara said. (GBN)
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