By The House of Representatives has said it is broke and its members “are in penury trying to run our own constitutional mandate.”
Speaking the during weekly media briefing on the activities of the House on Thursday, the house spokesperson, Benjamin Kalu made this known.
“The house is broke. I have said it before and I am saying it again; I am not afraid of saying it,” he said.
“The House is broke and it is afraid to appropriate sufficient amount needed for members to do their job. The House is broke and is afraid of your complaints as Nigerians to make provision for what will make them run the activities of the House effectively.”
According to Kalu, the exchange rate has affected their budgetary allocations over the years.
He said, “Nigerians must understand that the appropriation that was made for the running of the National Assembly, which happened when our currency was N160 to the dollar, is less now than what it used to be.
“The dollar equivalent today has gone up to over N400, the purchasing power of the budget as it is now is weaker than it was 10 years ago.”
The house spokesperson said he had confronted the leadership of the national assembly, asking them why they were afraid to increase the budget of the legislature to enable lawmakers conduct their services efficiently and effectively.
“We appropriate for agencies to run effectively and yet, we are in penury trying to run our own constitutional mandate.
“It is a disservice to Nigerians and the poor budget of the parliament is a disservice to Nigerians,” he added.
This isn’t the first time that the lawmakers would complain about their earnings. They often say theirs is one of the lowest globally. Meanwhile, they receive N800,000 as basic salary and N8.5 million as running cost monthly.
