Despite the overwhelming clamour from many
stakeholders in Nigeria to scale down bogus salaries and allowances
earned by members of the National Assembly, a member of the House of
Representatives, Mr. Saraki Dickson, has dismissed the matter as a non
issue.
Inspite of the cry that lawmakers in the country were overpaid, Dickson who represents Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency, told our correspondent that the issue remained a “baseless allegation.”
The lawmaker, who was returned to the house for a second term in the just concluded elections, further claimed that jumbo pay was a media creation.
He said no federal lawmaker could boast of being a billionaire after four years insisting that such status only existed on paper.
He argued that the allowances of the lawmakers seemed big because they were paid quarterly, claiming that much of the money was expected to be used for constituency projects.
He cited the examples of lawmakers from the state who, after leaving legislative business, could no longer meet up with their needs, adding that those who were not returned in the last elections would face economic hardship.
He said “There is no member of the National Assembly that is overpaid. No member is a billionaire. In Bayelsa we have former senators, Brigidi, Difa, Brambifa, nobody is a billionaire. It is all media hype. It is only that the allowances are paid quarterly and when you put that in the Nigeria contest, it sounds big but in actual fact, most of it goes back to the constituents and the electorate.”
By Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa Courtesy Of: Punch
Inspite of the cry that lawmakers in the country were overpaid, Dickson who represents Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency, told our correspondent that the issue remained a “baseless allegation.”
The lawmaker, who was returned to the house for a second term in the just concluded elections, further claimed that jumbo pay was a media creation.
He said no federal lawmaker could boast of being a billionaire after four years insisting that such status only existed on paper.
He argued that the allowances of the lawmakers seemed big because they were paid quarterly, claiming that much of the money was expected to be used for constituency projects.
He cited the examples of lawmakers from the state who, after leaving legislative business, could no longer meet up with their needs, adding that those who were not returned in the last elections would face economic hardship.
He said “There is no member of the National Assembly that is overpaid. No member is a billionaire. In Bayelsa we have former senators, Brigidi, Difa, Brambifa, nobody is a billionaire. It is all media hype. It is only that the allowances are paid quarterly and when you put that in the Nigeria contest, it sounds big but in actual fact, most of it goes back to the constituents and the electorate.”
By Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa Courtesy Of: Punch
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