House Of Reps Speaks On Why It Is Yet To Fulfill Pledge Of Donating 50% Salaries To Nigerians

The House of Representatives on Wednesday explained why it is yet to donate half of its members’ salaries as promised.

According to the spokesperson of the House, Rotimi Akin, the lower chamber remains committed to the 50 per cent deduction in lawmakers’ salaries.

“We acknowledge and regret that this resolution was not implemented by the bureaucracy as intended for the month of July,” he said in a statement.

“Resolutions of the House are ratified when the votes and proceedings of plenary are adopted on the next legislative day. Consequently, the bureaucracy was only formally instructed on July 23,” the spokesperson said.

The lawmakers in July agreed to cut their salaries by 50 per cent for six months in solidarity with Nigerians over economic hardship and hunger experienced by the citizens.

This followed the adoption of an amendment to a motion’s prayer moved by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, on the need for lawmakers to sacrifice 50% of their N600,000 monthly salaries to support Nigerians given the hardship.

Days after, the Reps spokesman attributed the delay in the implementation to necessary administrative procedures and coordination with financial institutions.

To Akin, instructions for adjusting salaries had since been issued and would be enforced moving forward to ensure its pledge is fully realised.

He called for patience, assuring that the House would adhere to its promise and sustained efforts to earn the trust and confidence of all Nigerians.

The spokesman also clarified that each member of the House takes N600,000 as monthly salary against N900,000, which is being speculated.

“There is nothing to investigate, as some media houses reported, as the House’s position on this matter had been provided to some journalists who had reached out for clarification.”

“The House of Representatives has been inundated by some media outlets reporting claims of discrepancies in the salaries of members, suggesting that we received 100 per cent of our July salaries. The report claimed that our salary amounted to N936,979.

“We wish to clarify that the actual monthly salary for members is N600,000, after deductions for advances such as housing, which are paid at the commencement of the tenure,” he said.