The leadership of the House of Representatives has stressed the urgent need for an upward review of the N128 billion annual budgetary allocation to enable it to carry out its constitutional duties.
Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon Benjamin Kalu gave the charge during post weekly briefing held in Abuja, affirmed that National Assembly is broke.
“Yes, the House is broke, I have said it before and I am saying it again and I am not afraid to say it. The House is broke and it is afraid to appropriate the sufficient amount for them to do their job.
“The House is broke and is afraid of your complains as Nigerians to make provision for what will make them run the activities of the House effectively.
“That is why today, here is hot; that is why the hearing rooms are not fixed; that is why the house is indebted to contractors who provide one form of service or the other. This is a fact.
“Until Nigerians believe that the appropriation that was made for the running of the National Assembly, which happened when naira was 160 to the dollar, is less now than what it used to be. The dollar equivalent of naira today has gone up to over N400.
“The purchasing power of the budget as it is now is weaker than it was 10 years ago. The budget of the National Assembly is supposed to be reviewed, in view of its purchasing ability, of the services that will help the parliament to move forward.
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“At the moment, it is a weak budget and that is the truth. I have actually fought with the leadership of the House and I have asked the question, ‘Why are you afraid to raise the budget of the National Assembly that will enable us to conduct our services efficiently and effectively?
“We appropriate for agencies to run effectively, yet we are in penury to our own constitutional mandate. It is a disservice to Nigerians; the poor budget of the parliament is a disservice to Nigerians.
“Let us be fair in our analogy; let us wear the right spectacles when we analyse and you will find out that this N128 billion of the National assembly, that is divided among all the agencies of the National Assembly; that is divided among all the staff – over 3,000 to 6,000 members of staff; that is divided among all the aides, five aides per lawmaker. Sometimes, people wonder if we really need those aides. How do you think we will function is making good laws?
“You need a solid expert to work for you. If you go to America, you see professors who are consulting and working directly with members of the parliament. That is why when they come out with their laws and their bills and motions; it is what addresses the problems of the country.
“But can we afford that as we are? The answer is no, we cannot. So, if you ask me 20 times, whether the National Assembly is broke until they improve the budget of the National Assembly, I will say, ‘Yes, we are broke.’
Recall that the House spokesman had during a press briefing held, on Tuesday, February 9th, 2021 argued that the Nigerian Parliament is “one of the poorest Parliaments. You don’t see lawmakers living in luxury. These guys (lawmakers) here are suffering, they are under stress, that’s why most of the sicknesses they are passing through are heart attacks, this and those failures.
“The pressure from the constituents is way out of the scope. Those who are not supposed to build the road are asked to build the road. They receive pressure even on issues that are not their duty. And the resources to solve the demands of the public is not there.”
Also speaking on the soar relationship between the Senate and House of Representatives on the unabated delay in the consideration of bills emanating from the House, Hon Kalu argued that the Senate is not superior to the House as erroneously conceived.
“People have always imagined that there is a superiority kind of status between the Senate and the House of Representatives, the issue still remains that the Constitution does not say so. If it says so, you will not see the House of Representatives always seeking concurrence while the Senate will not seek for concurrence,” he stated.
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