Supplementary Budget: Condemnation As Senators, Reps Get N70bn To Enhance Working Conditions
The National Assembly, yesterday, amended the N819.5 billion 2022 supplementary budget and approved N70 billion to support the “working conditions” of new lawmakers.
The amendment also made provision for N500 billion in palliatives for Nigerians to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal.
The amendment was passed in both the Senate and House of Representatives 24 hours after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sent the request to the parliament.
The breakdown of the amended N819.5 billion supplementary budget showed that N500 billion goes for palliatives to cushion the effect of recent fuel subsidy removal. It will be domiciled in the finance ministry.
The details also showed that N185 billion was for the Ministry of Works and Housing to alleviate the impact of the flooding disaster suffered in the country in 2022 on road infrastructure across the six geopolitical zones.
The sum of N19.2 billion was allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture to ameliorate the massive destruction to farmlands across the country during the flooding experienced last year; N35 billion to National Judicial Council; N10 billion to Federal Capital Territory Administration for critical projects; and N70 billion for the National Assembly to support the working conditions of new members.
The allocation of N70bn for lawmakers has, however, attracted criticisms from civil society organisations who consider it as outrageous.
It’s height of insensitivity – CSOs
The Executive Director, Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), Dr Ibrahim Zikirullahi, said the action showed how insensitive the legislators are to the plight of the ordinary Nigerians.
“Millions of farmers have to make do with N19.2bn while 469 lawmakers have allocated N70bn to themselves. This has to be the height of greed and disrespect for the people. This lopsided approach to governance, and the disproportionate focus on the needs of few people in government stands condemned,” Zikirullahi said.
Also, the Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani said, “There is no way any reasonable person with an iota of common sense can allocate billions of naira to themselves and continue to enjoy government privileges while failing to provide conditions for improved living conditions and creating opportunities for better livelihood to the people they govern and who, for the most part, feed the nation because without them we cannot have food to eat. I think there is no logic and common sense here.
“The president must act swiftly against this recklessness and extravagant lifestyle of the lawmakers and other political appointees who add little to no value to the country yet every month they go home with millions of naira for themselves at the expense of the poor and struggling masses.”
The Executive Director, Young People’s Initiative for Credible Leadership (YPICL), Comrade Abdulwahab Ekekhide, said the 10th National Assembly is starting on a wrong footing, and that there is a need to remind them of Section 14 subsection 2(b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended which states that the security and welfare of the people is the primary purpose of government.
“How on earth can they approve the sum of N19.2bn for farmers affected by flooding in 2022 and then approve for themselves a whopping N70bn? This is a misplaced priority and a disservice to the Nigerian people.
“Let me use this medium to call on other CSOs and the citizens to begin to hold our legislators to account,” Ekekhide said. DailyTrust
