Abuja — By Adetutu Folasade-Koyi Assistant Editor, Abuja

Senators are demanding from their leadership more than 100 per cent increase in quarterly allowance to finance their re-election.

They want it raised from N48 million to N95 million every quarter.

Investigation at the weekend showed that while Senators are expected to collect N48 million each quarter, the actual amount paid into individual accounts is N45 million.

"There's nothing like N48 million. Our allowance is only N45 million," confirmed a Senator who did not want to be named.

The demand for N95 million, a mere N5 million shave from the initial N100 million sought in the first quarter of 2010, was circulated in a text message from a Northern Senator.

He justified it by saying, "This is an election year" and insisted the Senate can afford the increase as there are "enough paddings in the budget" to effect it.

But the Senate leadership reportedly ignored the request on the basis that, "This economy cannot sustain that kind of demand."

Data at the Revenue Mobilisaion Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) showed that each Senator gets an annual basic salary of N2,484,242.50.

Current built-in allowances are accommodation (200 per cent of basic annual salary), vehicle maintenance (75 per cent), and entertainment (30 per cent), and utility (30 per cent).

Others are personal assistant (25 per cent), wardrobe (25 per cent), domestic staff (75 per cent), recess (10 per cent), newspapers (15 per cent), and constituency (250 per cent).

They also include furniture (300 per cent, payable only once in tenure), vehicle loan (400 per cent, repayable in six years), and gratuity (300 per cent).

Each Senator is, therefore, entitled to a gross annual salary of N22,606,606.75.

The agitators backed down after their demand was rejected by the Senate leadership, but when the quest to convert N15.1 billion capital vote to cash was floated in the House of Representatives, some Senators renewed the demand.

Some told the Senate leadership to "convert our own capital vote for the current fiscal year to cash. This is an election year. We need cash back home for the primaries."

But other Senators argued that, "The fiscal year is already winding down, any capital project for this year can be carried over to 2011, after all, there's nothing much that can be done in terms of any capital project for this year again."

The Senate leadership stood its ground.

However, it has allocated N500 million to buy vehicles for Senate President David Mark and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, other eight principal officers, as well as buses for staff and departments.

Another N250 million is voted to renovate and furnish the official residences of Mark and Ekweremadu.