Hon. Simon Karu , a member of the Federal House of Representatives, representing Kaltungo/Shongom federal constituency in Gombe state, has disclosed that the take-home of each member in the lower chamber of the National Assembly is up to N9.3 million adding that the cost includes the monthly salary and the office running cost.
Karu made the revelation speaking Thursday in Abuja at a well-attended event to mark Nigeria’s 60th anniversary, tagged: FixingNigeria at 60- “Sustainable and efficient democracy: Issues on accountability and transparency in governance”, the lawmaker however blamed constituents high demand on the cost.
Hon. Karu said: “The official salary of a member, House of Representatives which I also receive monthly is N800,0000. I told you I was going to say it, why don’t you wait for me to say it? The office running cost of a member of the House of Representatives is N8.5 million.
“Those of you who know, know that I said exactly what it is. The problem is what the constituents demand and when you don’t meet they begin to call you names.
“Just before I walked to the stage I received three emails from my constituents demanding for money and demanding for jobs, when you don’t it becomes an issue.”
While disagreeing with the revelation, another serving lawmaker in the House of Representatives and the Chairman House Committee on Treaties, Hon. Osai Osai, told the audience to disregard the information.
Osai said: “I have never received such salary since I came to the National Assembly and I have been in the National Assembly before him.”
Speaking on how to fix Nigeria, a former Senator, Dino Melaye, said Nigerians need to reboot Nigeria because “If you get the fight against corruption right every other things will be fixed.”
Melaye also advocated for the establishment of National Budget Office to stop the problem of budget padding, saying the country will continue to have problem with budgeting until it creates such office in the National Assembly.
“We need a National Budget Office. Nigeria is the only country without such office and until we have it budget padding will not stop.”
Meanwhile, a security analyst and Editor-In-Chief, Global Sentinel, Senator Iroegbu, also harped on the political solutions to our security challenges. Iroegbu noted that Nigerian security challenges have continued unabated due to structural defects in our security architecture and not necessarily a problem without fighting forces.
“No matter the kind of budget we throw, if the political culture is corrupt, we can do nothing,” he said.”
