Simon Karu, a member of the House of Representatives from
Gombe state, says he and his colleagues receive a sum of about N9.3 million
monthly.
Karu said although the salary of a legislator in the lower
legislative chamber is N800,000, they receive N8.5 million as “running cost”.
The total take-home pay of members of the national assembly
has been shrouded in secrecy.
In 2018, Shehu Sani, then senator representing Kaduna
central, disclosed that senators get N13.5 million monthly — aside from
salaries.
Speaking at an event to mark the country’s 60th Independence
Day anniversary on Thursday in Abuja, the Gombe lawmaker said most of the money
is channelled to his constituents who ask for assistance.
The theme of the event was ‘FixingNigeria at 60 –
Sustainable and efficient democracy: Issues on accountability and transparency
in governance’.
“The official salary of a member, house of representatives,
which I also receive monthly is N800,000. I told you I was going to say it; why
don’t you wait for me to say it? The office running cost of a member of the House
of Representatives is N8.5 million,” Karu said.
“Those of you who
know, know that I said exactly what it is. The problem is what the constituents
demand, and when you don’t meet [up], they begin to call you names.
“Just before I walked to the stage I received three emails
from my constituents demanding money and jobs. When you don’t, it becomes an
issue.”
On his part, Dino Melaye, former senator representing Kogi
west, said a lot of the country’s problems would be addressed if corruption
becomes a thing of the past.
“If you get the fight against corruption right, every other
thing will be fixed,” Melaye said.
Melaye also called for the establishment of a national
office to address the problem of budget padding.
“We need a national budget office. Nigeria is the only
country without such an office and until we have it, budget padding will not
stop,” he said.
Also speaking, Senator Iroegbu, editor-in-chief, Global
Sentinel, said solutions must be provided to the security challenges
confronting the country.
Iroegbu said the security challenges have continued unabated
owing to structural defects in the country’s security architecture.
“No matter the kind of budget we throw, if the political
culture is corrupt, we can do nothing,” he said.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com