It was a bomb shell, when questions took over the hills. The House of Reps said it welcomes the request for a public debate on the
alleged controversial jumbo pay of its members and Senators by a former Minister
of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili. She had stated on Monday that the National
Assembly consumed over N1trillion since 2005. The House on Thursday said
they are now ready for the challenge to set the records straight, but added that
Oby Ezekwesili should come forward and the following questions:
Their statement said her comments dwelt more on the salaries and allowances of lawmakers, excluding other expenditure like capital projects and the cost of running the bureaucracy of the legislative institution.
According to the House, this created the impression that all the funds allocated to the National Assembly in successive budgets since 2005 were spent on the payment of legislators’ wages.
“Since it is public knowledge that whosoever wishes to go to equity ought to do so with clean hands, we restate our earlier posers which Mrs. Ezekwesili conveniently glossed over in her latest statement on this issue, to wit:
"What is the percentage of the National Assembly’s N150bn allocation in a budget of N4.9tr?
“Is it right to insinuate that the budgetary allocation for the National Assembly is for ‘members salaries and allowances’, while deliberately leaving out capital projects component, salaries of legislative aides and the bureaucracy, as well as allied institutions such as the Institute for Legislative Studies?
“What is the total disbursement to the Executive and the Judicial arms of government over the same eight-year period?
“For an ex-official of government, who between the 2006 and 2007 federal budgets, superintended over a total of N422.5bn as Education Minister, what percentage of the public fund was expended by her as recurrent cost?” A statement by Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Victor Afam-Ogene, said the legislature believed in transparency in governance, “the 7th House of Reps wholeheartedly welcomes her request for a public hearing on the stated ideals.”
But the House said that Ezekwesili should be prepared to explain her understanding of cost of governance and why she narrowed her attack on the National Assembly, leaving out the Executive
Their statement said her comments dwelt more on the salaries and allowances of lawmakers, excluding other expenditure like capital projects and the cost of running the bureaucracy of the legislative institution.
According to the House, this created the impression that all the funds allocated to the National Assembly in successive budgets since 2005 were spent on the payment of legislators’ wages.
“Since it is public knowledge that whosoever wishes to go to equity ought to do so with clean hands, we restate our earlier posers which Mrs. Ezekwesili conveniently glossed over in her latest statement on this issue, to wit:
"What is the percentage of the National Assembly’s N150bn allocation in a budget of N4.9tr?
“Is it right to insinuate that the budgetary allocation for the National Assembly is for ‘members salaries and allowances’, while deliberately leaving out capital projects component, salaries of legislative aides and the bureaucracy, as well as allied institutions such as the Institute for Legislative Studies?
“What is the total disbursement to the Executive and the Judicial arms of government over the same eight-year period?
“For an ex-official of government, who between the 2006 and 2007 federal budgets, superintended over a total of N422.5bn as Education Minister, what percentage of the public fund was expended by her as recurrent cost?” A statement by Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Victor Afam-Ogene, said the legislature believed in transparency in governance, “the 7th House of Reps wholeheartedly welcomes her request for a public hearing on the stated ideals.”
But the House said that Ezekwesili should be prepared to explain her understanding of cost of governance and why she narrowed her attack on the National Assembly, leaving out the Executive
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