Afterthought: Yerima blackmailed senators with religious sentiment, says David Mark

Senate President, David Mark, has accused a senator, Ahmed Yerima, who is at the centre of the child marriage controversy, of blackmailing the Senate to reverse its initial move to delete a section of the constitution that appears to support child

The said section says a woman married shall be deemed to be of age for the purpose of renouncing citizenship. But many Nigerians fear the section sanctions girl marriage and have asked that it be removed.

Mr. Mark repeated an earlier position of the deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, that the section would be revisited.He did not, however, guarantee the contentious section, which ordinarily deals with citizenship, but appears to promote child marriage, will be deleted since it will require voting.

But he said the Senate was poised to remove the section from the law in the first place until members were blackmailed by Mr. Yerima by his claim that an alternative decision would be un-Islamic.

I read the above with so much distaste and disdain. You mean these legislators,  with all the outrageous earnings cannot study and understand what they are meant to vote for or against?  You only begin to wonder about how many of these scenarios have played out in the house.

God help us

Nigerian Lawmakers Top Salaries Chart

Nigerian federal legislators receive much higher salaries than their counterparts in wealthier countries and key developing nations, according to an analysis published by the Economist magazine.

A Nigerian legislator receives an annual salary of about $189,000, equivalent of N30 million, which is 116 times the country's gross domestic product (GDP) per person, says the publication which was posted on the magazine's website on Friday.

The figures put salaries collected by Nigerian senators and members of the House of Representatives way ahead of those received by fellow parliamentarians in the 29 countries whose data was analysed by the Economist.

In terms of volume of cash earnings, the Nigerian legislators beat their counterparts in Britain who take $105,400 yearly, as well as those in the United States ($174,000), France ($85,900), South Africa ($104,000), Kenya ($74,500), Saudi Arabia ($64,000) and Brazil ($157,600).

In terms of lawmakers' salaries as a ratio of GDP per capita, the gap is even much wider. While the salary of a Nigerian lawmaker is 116 times the country's GDP per person, that of a British member of parliament is just 2.7 times.The report said Britain's legislators pay is "relatively parsimonious" when compared with that of their counterparts in poorer countries, including Nigeria, who "enjoy the heftiest salaries by this measure.

"According to the data, only Australian lawmakers, with $201,200 annual salary, receive higher amounts compared to Nigerian legislators, but their salaries are only 3 times their country's GDP per person.Other yearly salary details published by the Economist are those of lawmakers in Ghana ($46,500), Indonesia ($65,800), Thailand ($43,800), India ($11,200), Italy ($182,000), Bangladesh ($4,000), Israel ($114,800), Hong Kong ($130,700), Japan ($149,700), Singapore ($154,000), Canada ($154,000), New Zealand ($112,500), Germany ($119,500), Ireland ($120,400), Pakistan ($3,500), Malaysia ($25,300), Sweden ($99,300), Sri Lanka ($5,100), Spain ($43,900) and Norway ($138,000).

Based on the constitution, RMAFC( Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission )has the final say on the remuneration package of National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly members, while a law needs to be enacted based on the commission's proposals regarding the pay packages of executive and judicial office holders.

But it is understood that the National Assembly and other arms of government have refused to implement the reduced packages on the grounds that the constitution says earnings of political officers should not be reviewed to their disadvantage. These same people could act in that of child marriage. ..pretty sad.