“Until Nigerians believe that the appropriation that was made for the running of the National Assembly, which happened when naira was 160 to the dollar, is less now than what it used to be. The dollar equivalent of naira today has gone up to over N400. The purchasing power of the budget as it is now is weaker than it was 10 years ago.”

Attention:

Here’s a public service announcement.

Nigeria’s House of Representatives says the National Assembly has become grossly underfunded that it is unable to function efficiently and effectively as a national parliament.

Benjamin Kalu, Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, in reading this chapter of lamentations at his weekly media conference on Thursday, decried that the paucity of funds has made the working environment not conducive for lawmakers while they have not been able to carry out their legislative activities to the best of their ability.

Hear him as quoted in the Punch:
“Yes, the House is ‘broke,’ I have said it before and I am saying it again and I am not afraid to say it. The House is ‘broke’ and it is afraid to appropriate the sufficient amount for them to do their job. The House is broke and is afraid of your complaints as Nigerians to make provision for what will make them run the activities of the House effectively,” Kalu said.

“That is why today, here is hot; that is why the hearing rooms are not fixed; that is why the house is indebted to contractors who provide one form of service or the other. This is the fact,” the lawmaker added.

The fact that the National Assembly gulps as much as N125bn as part of its expenditure annually, as contained in its 2021 Budget and still go broke barely 3 months into year should worry anyone.

While this said challenge has worsened to the point of lawmakers rescheduling plenary sessions from thrice a week to just once or twice, the Guardian recently reported that there is also the problem of delay in payment of allowances and other entitlements of the lawmakers allegedly caused by non-release of funds by the Ministry of Finance as when due.

The report added that efforts to persuade the Finance Minister to release some funds failed, and a lawmaker revealed that the First Line Charge budgetary provision for the National Assembly has not been met for a long time since the Buhari administration assumed office.

Not to worry anyways, the House Spokesman wants you to know that is only because they have become more conscious of the COVID-19 pandemic in times where the hopes of getting vaccinnes have significantly risen, compared to when there was either a national lockdown or threat of a second wave.

Who is deceiving who?

The National Assembly has for years been a pain in the neck of Nigerians due to the fact that its bogus running cost for 469 members as well as jumbo allowances are inimical to the country’s economic development.

Citizens are either crying out loud against their decision to import brand new cars for its members every four years or shouting to the top of their voices why renovation costs mustn’t exceed what it cost to build the institution in the first place.

There’s so much to be said but “I will leave the rest for my opponent to answer.” *smiles*

If this is not the time to cut down the cost of (wasteful) governance, I don’t know when next is best.

Let those who have ears hear!