Follow Us on Google
Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Yusuf Lasun, has given the Secretariat of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament and the Speaker, Moustapha Cisse Lo, 12 hours to retract the allegation of payment of allowance to him or face a legal action.
According to Lasun, he never received nor demanded payment of allowance from the ECOWAS Parliament.
Lasun added that he only stopped attending the sessions before travelling to Saudi Arabia as a result of the actions of Cisse Lo.
Lasun, who spoke through his chief press secretary, Wole Oladimeji, in Abuja, said although he had been out of the country since two weeks, he was worried and embarrassed that the speaker could go dirty at plenary to make unparliamentary remarks about his person.
Cisse Lo had, on Saturday, during the closing ceremony of the first plenary session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja, expressed displeasure over the payment of allowance to Lasun after absenting himself from proceedings of the Parliament.
He said Lasun absented himself from proceedings and received full payment, whereas some members who attended for a number of days did not, saying that he blocked payment of allowance to Lasun.
Cisse Lo further threatened to report to President Muhammadu Buhari, if any of the members protested against the decision he took on the payment issue.
Lasun, however, said: “Honestly, I do not know his intentions for calling my name, threatening that he would not pay any delegate from Nigeria that failed to attend the session.”
Oladimeji told journalists that he met with the ECOWAS Parliament Secretary General, Mr John Azumah, who told him categorically that Lasun never requested or demanded any payment.
Azumah, according to Oladimeji, also stated that no money was given to Lasun, adding that what the Parliament did was just a financial procedure by capturing all the lawmakers and submitted to the office of the speaker.
