The Senate on Friday said the allocation of N70 billion to the National Assembly by the Presidency is to provide furniture for new and returning lawmakers.
It also said the money will be used by the National Assembly bureaucracy to purchase the items needed and no lawmaker will get a kobo from it.
The National Assembly had in July, passed an amendment to the N819.5 billion 2022 supplementary budget, approving the sum of N70 billion to support the “working condition” of new lawmakers.
The allocation has been faulted by many Nigerians who described it as insensitive at a time when the country is going through a rough patch as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy.
However, speaking on behalf of the Senate, Yemi Adaramodu, Chairman, Senate Committee on Media justified the amount, saying many of the lawmakers had no furniture in their offices since their inauguration in June.
Adaramodu who spoke while featuring as a guest on Channels Television programme ‘Sunrise Daily’ monitored by QUEST TIMES said many of the lawmakers used their personal funds to procure furniture as the ones used by the 9th assembly had been removed by the lawmakers who purchased them.
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He said “The N70b is going to the national assembly bureaucracy and it will be used to do procurement of furniture, renovation, and every other thing they want to do. No kobo will come to any national assembly member. If there is any trace of it, members of the public especially the media should find out”.
He also denied claims by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) that each member of the National Assembly will receive N100m from the N70b supplementary budget.
“Now, I don’t want to go to legal issues that he who alleges must prove. There is no N100m anywhere for anybody. When there is a budget, are you now going to tell me that any budget that is going to the judiciary will be shared by the members of the judiciary? Are you saying that any budget going to the Executive, the members of the executive will be sharing it? Why will that of the national assembly be different?”
“The N70b is the budget of the national assembly. When you say supplementary budget, it means that there has been a vacuum. It means that this has not been budgeted for. That is the meaning of supplementary. Look at the N500b that was budgeted for palliatives, it means that it has not been budgeted for before. Look at the other N35b for the judiciary, it means that it has not been budgeted for”.
The heading that came for the N70b supplementary budget is for procurement of furniture, and renovation in the national assembly. When they say you want to furnish a place, is it only chairs and tables? Television sets which are electronics are part of it”.