Legislator’s Jumbo Pay, Cost of Governance and the State of Education in Nigeria: Issues and Contradictions

wages and allowances of federal legislators in Nigeria and the controversy it generated prompted this academic research. The findings in this study however show that the salaries and allowances currently being enjoyed by federal legislators in Nigeria is a breach of Section 70 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which makes it clear that a member of the Senate and House of Representative shall receive such salary and other allowances as the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission may determine. Further investigations also reveal that spending 25 percent of Nigeria’s federal budget overhead cost on the National Assembly alone has created income inequality which has widened the gape between the income of civil servants and political office holders in the country. Further findings also show that excessive spending on recurrent expenditure such as the huge legislators jumbo pay and servicing of domestic debts spent on over heads have contributed to the neglect of the education sector and other critical sectors of the economy which has equally affected the cost of governance in Nigeria. The systems political theory was applied while analyzing and explaining the subject-matter. In terms of methodology and scope, descriptive analyses and secondary sources of data (textbooks, published articles and journals) were relied upon. Nevertheless, to ensure equity and fairness in income allocation and distribution in Nigeria, we recommend that the federal governmen