Discontentment is brewing in the House of Representatives over the exclusion of members from the special monetary benefit accruing to the federal lawmakers ahead of their two-month recess.
Findings by LEADERSHIP Friday revealed that members of the House are angry that the financial aid provided for their senior colleagues in the Senate to ease the burden of the holiday in their various constituencies was not extended to them.
Already, it was gathered that members are lurching towards an angry showdown with Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sani Tambawal Magaji, as well as Clerk of the House of Representatives, Yahaya Danzaria, over the issue.
They are also pointing accusing fingers at a presidential aide (names withheld), who might have allegedly collaborated with the leadership of the House to deny them of the opportunity of enjoying the holiday allowance.
This newspaper recalls that revelations by the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, in a viral video that an undisclosed amount of money had been sent to each of the senators to enable them to enjoy their holidays, had sparked the latest development in the House of Representatives.
Akpabio, in a viral video from the last plenary of the Senate before the recess, said, “In order to enable all of us to enjoy our holidays, a token has been sent to our various accounts by the Clerk of the National Assembly.”
But when the statement sparked a rowdy session on the floor of the Senate, he rephrased the statement and said, “I withdraw that statement. In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the Senate President has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.”
Outrage Over Akpabio’s Disclosure Of Money Paid To Senators For Holiday In Viral Video
Despite the retraction, LEADERSHIP Friday learnt that the lawmakers at the Green Chamber are angry that the goodwill was not extended to them.
This newspaper gathered that House members felt cheated and slighted that they were denied the “gesture and wherewithal, according to one of them, “to equally enjoy the holidays like the Senators.”
Though some of the House members have left Abuja for their various holiday destinations within and outside the country, there were reports of desperate telephone calls and WhatsApp messages to their colleagues, remaining in Abuja, for information on the festering issue.
It was learnt that various WhatsApp groups operated by members of the House have been inundated with such messages demanding to vknow why House members were denied the financial relief.
In one of the viral WhatsApp messages, a member confronted Danzaria thus: “Good morning Mr. Clerk, the above video (Akpabio viral video on holiday allowance) refers: kindly note that we have not received the above money. We also did not receive that of the Muslim holiday.
“Mr. Clerk, for this matter to be closed, your comment/response is highly needed.”
In another WhatsApp message, another aggrieved member lamented, “Yes oo. Honestly, we don’t know what is happening to. The Senate is in joyful mood oo. Honestly, members of my constituents have been asking for their share of my holiday money.”
Other WhatsApp messages by the angry members read: “How can we change the narratives in this 10th Assembly? Senators are always smiling home while members are on their own. God help us,” said another House member, who craved anonymity.
“As a matter of fact, my senator asked me if we were given support for Sallah and my reply surprised him. Is it our number or there was no provision for us for the holiday allowance? Already, our constituents’ expectations from us are enormous.
“One of my constituents sent me the video and asked that I send him part of my share of the holiday allowance as he believes that members of the Green Chamber received theirs like the senators before we went on recess.
“Some statements can’t come from the Clerk as a civil servant, you can refer to the leadership please. Clerk always acts on directives.”
Painting the picture of the mood and feelings of the House members over the holiday bonanza fallout, a member said, “We are feeling very bad that we are excluded from the holiday bonanza the same way we were denied the Sallah packages. The Senators have enjoyed the Sallah and holiday packages. No one has been able to provide any convincing explanation as to why these monetary benefits are always not made available to members of the House.
“We thank God that the Senate President made that disclosure that holiday packages in form of money were provided for the senators to make the holiday period pleasant and enjoyable for them otherwise, we would not have known about that. Many people have been criticising Senator Akpabio for that statement but we thank God that He used the Senate President to expose how the House members in the 10th Assembly are being maltreated, stated a member, who pleaded anonymity.
Also, a member who similarly appealed that his name should not be mentioned in print added: “Members of the House are really suffering for lack of money to operate and live decently befitting their status. You can see that some of us are even in Abuja, we can’t travel home or elsewhere for the holiday because we don’t have the resources to do that. If we have been given the same financial aid as the senators to enable us to enjoy the holidays, we won’t hibernate here in Abuja in order to starve off pressures by our constituents.
“Even at that, our constituents who listened to Akpabio’s outbursts in the viral video have been on our necks, seeking one help or the other. Our pleas that we are broke easily fell on deaf ears as they easily reminded us that we just collected our holiday allowances. The system is not fair to members of the House of Representatives. The senators are on top of their games and they are really enjoying the job.
“Maybe our problems are being caused by the management and political leadership of the House of Representatives. We are being denied our entitlements and the silence of the management and leaders of the House is an indication that they are collaborators in the unfolding drama. Our aggrieved members are already bombarding Mr. Speaker and Clerk of NASS, Mr. Sani Tambuwal Magaji and Clerk of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yahaya Danzaria, with calls and messages for explanations. The members are calling for their heads.
“Mr. Speaker has unhindered access to funds and that is why he is currently holidaying abroad but the members are not giving him breathing space. He is not enjoying the holiday too as he has been receiving unpleasant telephone calls and messages on this issue from the members who are demanding to know why they were not giving the holiday allowance. His explanations were not convincing and not reasonable to members.”
“We will wait patiently till we resume to enable the Speaker to explain to us why he would not be sanctioned. In less than 2 months, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas has freely been stepping on banana peels. I doubt if the charade of his election could be sustained.”
But reacting to the development, the Lower House said the legislature works collaboratively in the National Assembly but has separate administrative structures.
The chairman of the House committee on media and public affairs, Hon. Akin Rotimi Jr, told LEADERSHIP Friday: “I cannot substantiate the claims of a ‘holiday bonanza given to senators’.
“I can, however, affirm that there is no such thing as honourable members being aggrieved for any reason whatsoever.
“Rather, honourable members are patriotically going about our duties in terms of constituency outreach in our respective constituencies, helping to bring succour to our people. We are also working hard on our duties in the various ad-hoc committees set up to address key issues in our country.
“The House of Representatives remains focused on delivering our individual and collective mandate to make Nigeria work for all citizens”.
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