Speaker of the House of Reps, Yakubu Dogara, broke the news to grumbling members during a closed-door session on Tuesday that the members will get N10million out of their usual N18million
As a result of the dwindling financial state of the country, a cash crunch has hit the House of Representatives. The development reportedly forced the leadership of the House on Tuesday to reduce the due allowances of members.
According to reports, each member was entitled to N18 million as part of their first pay package in the 8th Assembly to settle down for legislative duties. It is gathered that instead of the N18 million, members would only get N10 million in the interim, pending when the financial situation of the House will improve.
One senior official said; “Built into the N18m is furniture allowance, housing and car loan. But right now, only N10m can get to members. The car loan in particular is off. What this means is that there is no provision for car loan for now.”
Speaker of the House, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, broke the news to grumbling members during a one hour closed-door session on Tuesday which was the first activity of the House.
“The executive session dwelt on the issue of the due allowances. These are some of the allowances due to the members.
The meeting was called to make these explanations to avoid a situation whereby people may think that they have been short-changed. The money is due this week and the Speaker made the point that it was important to brief them on their expectations“, another source stated.