Former Speaker Yakubu Dogara has revealed that he received a total of ₦25 million as allowance during his tenure.
Dogara, who served as Speaker in the 8th National Assembly between 2015 and 2019, made this disclosure at the 'Legislative Open Week' organized by the House of Representatives in Abuja.
According to the report by Daily Trust on Wednesday, the former Speaker clarified that this amount was not a monthly or yearly allowance but a total sum received throughout his four-year term.
He also stated that his salary as Speaker was less than ₦400,000 per month, which he claimed was not enough to meet the expectations of his constituents.
Dogara said that he never took any money from the allowance account home and that it never lasted more than three days due to pressure from his constituents.
He urged current members of the National Assembly to be transparent about their earnings and not succumb to public pressure.
He said, "My allowances, everything as a speaker then, was N25 million. I asked my accountant to open an account for this money because this money was not mine.
"When we talk about the allowances the people think are humongous, Mr Speaker, forgive me, the House should forgive me.
"I don't know whether they have increased it, but when I was there, my salary was not up to N400,000 a month. So a young man in my constituency said, you mean this is your salary? I can even hire you to work for me."
There have been a lot of speculations from members of the public about the lucrative salaries and allowances of National Assembly members.
However, Dogara's statement came as a surprise to many Nigerians who have long believed that National Assembly members receive extravagant salaries and allowances.