LEADERSHIP
Discontentment is brewing in the House of Representatives over the exclusion of members from the special monetary benefit accruing to the federal lawmakers ahead of their two-month recess.
Findings by LEADERSHIP Friday revealed that members of the House are angry that the financial aid provided for their senior colleagues in the Senate to ease the burden of the holiday in their various constituencies was not extended to them.
Already, it was gathered that members are lurching towards an angry showdown with Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sani Tambawal Magaji, as well as Clerk of the House of Representatives, Yahaya Danzaria, over the issue.
They are also pointing accusing fingers at a presidential aide (names withheld), who might have allegedly collaborated with the leadership of the House to deny them of the opportunity of enjoying the holiday allowance.
This newspaper recalls that revelations by the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, in a viral video that an undisclosed amount of money had been sent to each of the senators to enable them to enjoy their holidays, had sparked the latest development in the House of Representatives.
Akpabio, in a viral video from the last plenary of the Senate before the recess, said, “In order to enable all of us to enjoy our holidays, a token has been sent to our various accounts by the Clerk of the National Assembly.”
But when the statement sparked a rowdy session on the floor of the Senate, he rephrased the statement and said, “I withdraw that statement. In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the Senate President has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.”
Despite the retraction, LEADERSHIP Friday learnt that the lawmakers at the Green Chamber are angry that the goodwill was not extended to them.
This newspaper gathered that House members felt cheated and slighted that they were denied the “gesture and wherewithal, according to one of them, “to equally enjoy the holidays like the Senators.”
Though some of the House members have left Abuja for their various holiday destinations within and outside the country, there were reports of desperate telephone calls and WhatsApp messages to their colleagues, remaining in Abuja, for information on the festering issue.
It was learnt that various WhatsApp groups operated by members of the House have been inundated with such messages demanding to vknow why House members were denied the financial relief.
In one of the viral WhatsApp messages, a member confronted Danzaria thus: “Good morning Mr. Clerk, the above video (Akpabio viral video on holiday allowance) refers: kindly note that we have not received the above money. We also did not receive that of the Muslim holiday.
“Mr. Clerk, for this matter to be closed, your comment/response is highly needed.”
In another WhatsApp message, another aggrieved member lamented, “Yes oo. Honestly, we don’t know what is happening to. The Senate is in joyful mood oo. Honestly, members of my constituents have been asking for their share of my holiday money.”
Other WhatsApp messages by the angry members read: “How can we change the narratives in this 10th Assembly? Senators are always smiling home while members are on their own. God help us,” said another House member, who craved anonymity.
