Follow Us on Google
From Kemi Yesufu, Abuja
With growing tension in the House of Representatives over owed salaries and allegations of favouritism from lawmakers yet to get delivery of their Peugeot 508 official car, the leadership of the House has pleaded for patience and understanding from members.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja over the weekend, Chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity, Abdulrazak Namdas, said there was no need for anyone to get agitated as the supply of 360 vehicles for members, valued at about N6.1 billion will be completed before the end of the year.
“We have been able to supply about 200 of these vehicles. We are still being supplied and knowing that we are 360 in number, I can say that before the end of 2017, every member would have gotten his or her own car.
“Truly, the challenge has been that we never said we will pay for the vehicles at once. We said we will pay in instalments and the company will supply us batch by batch.
“The company has been doing this, supplying us 50 units the first time and up till the number we have reached this time.
“Naturally, there will be the issue of members who haven’t been supplied beginning to ask why they haven’t been given a car, but we are not out to frustrate our colleagues.
“Some have even argued that with the N10 billion increase in the budget of the National Assembly, we should be able to deliver all the cars, but the truth is, we haven’t even started implementing the 2017 budget,” he further explained.
On the issue of frequent changes to the figure paid as salary to members, the spokesman insisted that all deductions made to lawmakers’ wages were legal.
“Truly, no member should be saying he/she doesn’t understand why there were deductions in their salaries. What happened is that when we came in, some people took loans, for example, for furniture allowance and this will be deducted from the individual’s salary,” he stated.
Since July, the leadership of the House has grappled with loud complaints from members, who said they had not been given their officials vehicles and that deductions are still being made from their salary, half way into their four-year tenure.
The National Assembly commenced on its annual vacation on Thursday, July 27, but many members have stayed back in Abuja.
Those who spoke to Daily Sun off record, cited the non-payment of their salary as the main reason they had not been able travel with their families or visit their constituencies.
The sour mood in the House came to fore a day before the lawmakers went on break, when some members defied tradition by remaining in their seats, when Speaker Yakubu Dogara walked into the chamber.
The cold reception given the procession of principal officers of the House led by Dogara made him to promptly convene an executive session.
Daily Sun learnt that lawmakers took turns to make complaints over unkept promises made by the leadership on matters concerning their welfare.
It was further learnt that an issue that caused a lot of anger among members was the alleged gradual reduction in their allowances.
A source at the meeting revealed how aggrieved lawmakers stormed out of the session, as they House leadership failed to provide satisfactory answers to their queries over deductions made from their monthly and quarterly emoluments.
