Unbelievable! House Of Reps Want N7m Pay Increase

Members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday launched an agitation for a N7m increase in their quarterly allowances, barely 24 hours after resuming from a two-month recess. Each member of the House currently enjoys N27m per quarter as allowances but the lawmakers want the sum jerked up to N35m, The newsmen learnt. Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal, reportedly had a hectic time calming frayed nerves at an executive session on Wednesday. Some of the lawmakers, in seeking an increased allowance, at the closed door session, reportedly raised questions of financial impropriety against the leadership of the House. They reportedly questioned how the “N5m” budgeted for each member’s medical expenses and insurance was utilised by the House. “There are 360 members; we have funds budgeted for medical allowances and insurance. “If you put aside some funds for these sub-heads, which is about N5m, we have to know how this money is being utilised.” Tambuwal was said to have used the session, which lasted for over two hours, to explain to his aggrieved colleagues that the leadership was transparent in the running of House accounts. A source said he explained that the delay in the payment of pending allowances was caused by paucity of funds.