Cut Your Allowances, Not Salaries, Atiku Tells House of Reps
A former vice president Alhaji Abubakar Atiku has told the federal lawmakers to rather cut their allowances instead of their monthly basic salaries of they really want to help the people of the country to tackle hunger and hardship.
Cost of foods have already torn pockets and Nigerians are gearing up for a nationwide protest tagged, “Day of Rage”.
As part of its efforts to assist the people of the country, the lower chamber of the National Assembly agreed on Thursday to cut the salaries by 50% so as to cater for the people.
Benjamin Kalu, the Deputy Speaker, moved the motion to call on his colleagues to rise to the occasion. Abbas Tajudeen, the speaker, headed the plenary.
In his reaction, the ex vice president commended the lawmakers for taking that step. But he added that if they were serious with their intent, they should cut their allowances, which he called “monster”.
Atiku said, “The sacrifice of members of the House of Representatives is commendable. But it is a drop in the ocean. The demons are in the allowances and not the salaries of lawmakers and government officials in general.
“Whatever happened to the much-trumpeted implementation of the Oronsaye Report? Recently, the ballooning of MDAs with the attendant cost implications has been observed. There’s too much wastage and prioritisation of non-essential expenditures. What is desirable is an across the board cut in expenses. We can no longer afford to borrow money to fund continued irresponsibility in government.”
House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria Atiku Abubakar
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