86% of Nigerians opposed to excessive remuneration for National Assembly Members
Abuja, Nigeria. December 8, 2010 – An overwhelming majority of Nigerians are opposed to the huge salaries and allowances, which are currently being "earned" by members of the National Assembly. That is a major finding of the November edition of the groundbreaking monthly Snap Poll conducted by NOI Polls, the nation's leading opinion polling organisation. The poll also revealed that a significant proportion of Nigerians are very much aware of the controversial remuneration, which the media has labelled "jumbo pay."
Specifically, 88% of respondents in the survey say they object to the payment of huge amounts to the National Assembly members. Respondents were asked the question 'Have you heard about the recent controversy regarding the earnings of the National Assembly Members?' 79% answered 'Yes' while 20% said 'No.'
The findings are coming against the background of the high profile disagreement between Central Bank Governor, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and the Senate over the actual percentage of the national budget devoted to servicing the National Assembly. The senators had objected to Mr. Sanusi's statement that a quarter of the country's overhead costs is spent on the national legislature, a claim from which the Central Bank Governor has refused to back down.
The findings suggest that beyond the specific issue of what the exact budgetary provision for the National Assembly is, there is widespread dissatisfaction in the country regarding what is generally perceived as excessive remuneration paid to members of the National Assembly.
Survey Methods
Respondents for the snap poll were randomly selected from a database of phone-owning Nigerians aged 15 and above, compiled by NOI Polls. 1,012 people took part in the telephone interviews from the 15th to 17th of November 2010. For a sample of this size, we can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points. The margin of error reflects the influence of data weighting. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
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