No Money to Pay Nigeria Legislators

The prospects of outgoing members of the House of Representatives getting their enhanced welfare allocation before the end of their term dimmed, yesterday, following the resolution of Speaker Dimeji Bankole

not to borrow on behalf of the members.

Bankole’s stringency nonetheless, members of the Dino Melaye-led group have demanded a fresh probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on how entitlements of the House members were allegedly misused.

Meanwhile, associates of Speaker Bankole and the Deputy Speaker, Alhaji Usman Nafada, were yesterday exchanging mutual accusations of complicity in the secret decision to increase members’ entitlement.

Vanguard learnt, yesterday, that the House, at a closed door session in March 2010 commenced the process that eventually led to the formal increase in members’ quarterly allocation from an estimated N29 million to N42 million.

It was further learnt that the resolution was adopted almost unanimously with both pro-Bankole and anti-Bankole forces in near unanimity on the issue. The increase was, however, irrespective of the standard recommendations of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMFAC, of the estimated N26 million quarterly allocation which is supposed to cover the salaries and allowances of the legislators and their official and domestic staff.

The fund is also supposed to cover the running of their constituency offices, newspapers, travels and tours and other logistics, though many of the legislators were often in the breach in the utilization of the provisions.
Associates of Speaker Bankole were adamant, yesterday, that he was absent when the idea of raising the jumbo salary was reached.

A close associate of the Speaker told Vanguard last night: “I remember that I was with the Speaker in Ibadan on that day that the issue was raised because I followed him to inaugurate a facility in the university.”

The associate affirmed that the House in the absence of the Speaker mandated a team headed by a principal officer to study the matter who in turn came up with the constitution of the 37-member Members’ Welfare Enhancement Committee.

The committee included a member from each state of the federation and the federal capital.

The implementation of the new package was rolled back to the beginning of 2010, a decision that compelled the House to take a loan to cover the payments that were handed out to members in the second quarter. A commercial bank,  it was learnt disbursed the loan to cover up the deficit in the jumbo pay.

The bank it was further gathered, however, panicked when it realized that the two presiding officers, Speaker Bankole and the Deputy Speaker, Nafada were not returning to the House and then moved to immediately offset the loan from the House account that was until recently domiciled with it.

It was the decision that led to the non payment of the members’ second allocation when they returned last week.

Source ;Vanguard Newspaper