By Kolawole Ojebisi
The House of Representatives says it has resolved to present the sum of N704.91m scrimped and saved from its members salaries to President Bola Tinubu on December 31.
According to the House of Representatives, the money is meant to cushion the effect of petrol subsidy removal, its attendant economic hardship on vulnerable Nigerians.
Recall that on July 18, the House resolved to slash 50 per cent of their salaries for six months to address the challenges faced by ordinary Nigerians following the adoption of a motion moved during a plenary session.
Following a motion by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, the House, in July, resolved to donate half of their salaries to meet the hunger needs of Nigerians as part of efforts to stop the end bad governance protest.
While moving the motion, Kalu said, “This government is doing its best, but one year is not enough to address the challenges of this country. I want to plead with our colleagues to sacrifice 50 per cent for a period of six months.
“Our salary is N600,000 a month. I want to plead that we let go of 50 per cent of our salary for a period of six months. ”
Addressing his colleagues during Thursday’s plenary, the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, said, “If you recall, about five months ago, we decided to contribute half of our salaries to address the critical needs of the Nigerian people. I am happy to inform you that so far, we have contributed N704,907,578.82.
“On December 31, I will lead a delegation of leadership to hand over the money to the President for the exclusive use of the vulnerable Nigerians who really need it.
“The contributions you made highlight the steadfastness and dedication of members to addressing the critical needs of Nigerians”.
