Some Senators Have Gotten N2m Recess ‘Token,’ Says Senator Ningi

Senator Abdul Ningi says some lawmakers have gotten N2m as recess allowance even though he is yet to see his own.

In a recent video clip, Senate President Godswill Akpabio was heard telling the Senators to expect a “token” to enable them to enjoy their recess.

“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,” Akpabio said just as the lawmakers finished the ministerial screening.

Expectedly, the comment, which the lawmaker later withdrew, has caused debates online.

Days after Akpabio’s remark, Senator Ningi of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) confirmed that some lawmakers have gotten an allowance as earlier hinted.

“Nothing has come to my account yet. I heard that some people got N2m but for me, nothing yet.  Hopefully [I would get], when they tidy up things,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today Friday.

He, however, faulted Senator Akpabio’s comment, describing it as unprecedented.

“Some of these things, if they happen, you don’t broadcast it the way he did,” the lawmaker added.

“I think it is a huge embarrassment to the Senate President as a person and to the institution of the National Assembly. The Senate President should have gone further to say what the allowances are for. How did he come about the allowances? Who gave the allowances? Is it part of the remuneration?”

Senator Ningi admitted that people are bitter about the comment and he finds it “difficult to take” just like many Nigerians.

“I don’t know what N2m would do for a holiday. I find it very difficult to understand what this money is for,” the Bauchi Central lawmaker noted.

According to him, when the senators return to work, they need to know what the money is for since the lawmakers do not get recess allowance.