The House of Representatives has received full salaries for July despite promising to donate 50% to fight hunger.
Recall that lawmakers in the lower chamber of the National Assembly resolved on July 18, 2024, to donate half of their monthly earnings to Nigeria for a six-month period.
The lawmakers arrived at this conclusion while debating on how to stem the tide of the nationwide protest that Nigerians had scheduled for August.
But Uzokwe Ifeanyi, the lawmaker representing Nnewi South Federal Constituency, indirectly confirmed that the members of the house received their full salaries for July, in an interview with the Channels Television on July 31.
Ifeanyi, speaking about the Tinubu administration and the cost of governance, displayed a screengrab of his full July salary of N936,979 on live Television.
When asked about why he received a full salary instead of the half the House promised, the lawmaker explained that “the house has to go through a process”, before the 50% would be implemented.
In a statement on Wednesday, Rotimi Akin, spokesperson of the lower chamber of the National Assembly, reaffirmed the commitment of the House to the 50 per cent deduction in their salary.
“We acknowledge and regret that this resolution was not implemented by the bureaucracy as intended for the month of July.“
Resolutions of the House are ratified when the votes and proceedings of plenary are adopted on the next legislative day. Consequently, the bureaucracy was only formally instructed on July 23,” the spokesperson said.
According to him, the delay in the implementation was due to necessary administrative procedures and coordination with financial institutions.
He added that instructions for adjusting salaries had since been issued and would be enforced moving forward to ensure its pledge is fully realised.
“There is nothing to investigate, as some media houses reported, as the House’s position on this matter had been provided to some journalists who had reached out for clarification.”
While calling for patience, he assured the House of its steadfast adherence to its pledge and sustained efforts to earn the trust and confidence of all Nigerians.
He also clarified that each member of the House takes N600,000 as monthly salary against N900,000, which is being speculated.
“The House of Representatives has been inundated by some media outlets reporting claims of discrepancies in the salaries of members, suggesting that we received 100 per cent of our July salaries. The report claimed that our salary amounted to N936,979.
“We wish to clarify that the actual monthly salary for members is N600,000, after deductions for advances such as housing, which are paid at the commencement of the tenure,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson said the House member who displayed his salary on a TV programme was an exceptional case because he assumed office through a court decision many months after the on boarding process was concluded.
