‘Basic Salary Of A Senator Not Much, Mine Goes For Palliatives’ – LP Senator, Ireti Kingibe

The Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ireti Kingibe, has said the basic salary of Nigerian senators is not much against the misconception that they earn a lot.

Naija News reports that the Labour Party (LP) Senator made this known in an interview with ARISE PRIMETIME on Wednesday night.

Kingibe, when questioned on the campaign promise to use her basic salary to provide aid for people in Abuja, said most of her basic salary goes towards meeting the needs and challenges occurring in Abuja, especially in the rural areas.

She said, “People are under the misconception that the basic salary of a senator is a lot. Really, it’s not as much. But so far, I’ve been a senator- in the next week or two it will be maybe 6 months, because there’s such intense poverty out there, a lot of it goes for palliatives. Oh, I have no food, I need to do this, so, a lot of that goes there.

“But that notwithstanding, I’m in the process of trying to buy a rig so that some of those infrastructural process you are talking about, I’m trying to see if, in partnership with some donor agencies, I can get a greater, so that some short rural roads, it will make a little bit of a difference, so yes. I leave the bigger ones to the minister to do in terms of infrastructure, I’m just trying to do the little ones that will make a difference.”

Speaking on the SUVs purchased by the senators, Kingibe said that the vehicles were approved and purchased by the 9th Assembly, not the 10th Assembly.

She said, “I think that going forward, I think this terms senate might opt to buy cheaper cars made in Nigeria or whatever, I don’t know, but you can hold us responsible for the cars that the 11th Assembly rides, but the ones that we got were purchased and sorted out by the 9th assembly.”