FIJ
Members of the House of Representatives have received 100% of their July salaries despite the pledge they made to each donate half for six months to fight hunger, FIJ has confirmed.
Lawmakers in the lower chamber of the National Assembly reached a resolution on July 18 to donate half of their monthly earnings to Nigeria for a six-month period. The lawmakers arrived at this conclusion while debating on how to stem the tide of the nationwide protest that Nigerians had scheduled for August.
But Uzokwe Ifeanyi, the lawmaker representing Nnewi South Federal Constituency, indirectly confirmed that the members of the house recieved their full salaries for July, in an interview with the Channels Television on July 31.
Ifeanyi, speaking about the Tinubu administration and the cost of governance, displayed a screengrab of his full July salary of N936,979 on live Television.
When asked about why he recieved a full salary instead of the half the House promised, the lawmker explained that “the house has to go through a process”, before the 50% would be implemented.
Akin Rotimi, the National Assembly spokesperson, subsequently cited bureaucracy as the reason why the implementation of the 50% was delayed.
“The House of Representatives remains committed to the resolution passed on July 18, which mandates a 50% reduction in the salaries of honourable members for the period from July to December 2024,” he told Punch.
“We acknowledge and regret that this resolution was not implemented by the bureaucracy as intended for the month of July.”
Meanwhile, FIJ had reported how the lawmakers lied that their monthly pay was N600,000 while making pledge to Nigerians. Beyond the monthly salaries that each lawmaker recieves, they are also entitied to running costs of about N8.5 million every month and allowances that may be up to approximately N5 million or more.
THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN FIJ
