The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has said the current salary of the National Assembly members is a ‘far cry’ from what Nigerians think and 50 percent of it cannot be sacrificed to solve the economic hardship.
Amidst the ongoing economic crisis, some Nigerians have urged members of the National Assembly to take a significant step by slashing their salaries to alleviate the suffering.
The Deputy Speaker who spoke in an interview with Channels TV on Monday, in defence of lawmakers called for understanding even as Nigerians endure the current hardships.
He acknowledged the severity of the crisis and assured Nigerians that the National Assembly was not indifferent to their plight.
Kalu explained that the salaries of lawmakers are fixed and that the salaries were not enough for them to do the jobs they were elected to do
“At the moment, talking about the salary of the National Assembly. I have said this over and over again, it is not as much as people think. Salary is different from allowance, which is meant to do the jobs our constituents have sent us to do.
“Nobody is allowed to touch allowances. It is the salary that belongs to you. Allowances have no subheadings for which they are made for. If you use it wrongly, when you are retiring it, you will be sanctioned for that.
“So talking about the salaries of the National Assembly, it is a far cry from what it is supposed to be.
” And I can assure you that even if we reduce it by 50 per cent or 80 per cent, it will not really impact what the Nigerian lawmakers should be earning, which does not go in tandem with the economic situation of the country.
“I can assure you as well that we are not hoping that this crisis we are going through will linger for a very long time because when you have sound policies, it doesn’t end with just policy pronouncement; we need to give a timeline for the maturation of that policy and Nigerians are passing through a phase now in which delayed gratification for a better gain tomorrow is necessary,” he said.
