Senate spokesperson, Adaramodu stated the fund isn’t paid to the lawmakers; neither is the NASS complex owned by them. Therefore, it is mischievous to term it palliative for them.
The Senate has denied reports accusing the parliament of padding the 2022 Supplementary Budget to accommodate the seventy billion naira (N70b) earmarked for the National Assembly.
This is as it stressed that the passage of the Supplementary Appropriation Act was part of the constitutional duties of the Senate to accommodate funding for the Federal Government’s Palliative for the Nigerian public, among other national demands.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, vehemently debunked the allegations and noted that the passage of laws is exclusive to the Legislature. As such, it needed no gift from the Executive arm to carry out that responsibility.
The Senate spokesperson, however alluded to reports that the money is meant for the furnishing of offices of lawmakers as well as the refurbishment of the National Assembly Complex, adding that the management of the National Assembly will manage the funds and not the legislators.
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The statement read, “After the passage of the Supplementary Budget to accommodate funding for Federal Government’s Palliative for the Nigerian public, among other urgent national demands, the socio-political space has been inundated with spurious, inaccurate and irreverent misinterpretations.
Suffice to say that the passage is part of the absolute constitutional duty of the Senate. We would, therefore, not wish to join issues with the mischief and misrepresentation that a portion of the just passed Amendment Act that appropriated 70b Naira was a ‘gift’ to the Legislators.
A visit to the Suites, offices, and the general structures of the National Assembly complex would reveal yawning and the need for exigent attention. Many Senators had to bring their chairs, tables, and electronics and, in many cases, do sundry repairs.
The so much debated allocation will not be paid to any Legislator. This will be managed by the National Assembly Bureaucracy. It’s pertinent to also note that the National Assembly complex does not house only the Legislators. There are thousands of workers and service providers whose working environment needs a face-lift and/with necessary tools.
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“Since the Assembly Complex is not owned by Legislators who are merely political birds of passage, such allocation cannot be termed by anyone as a palliative to the Legislators.
The alleged padding of the palliative Budget by the National Assembly only exists in the minds of those who are all out to discredit the 10th Assembly. There is nothing like padding, as being alleged in some misinformed media outfits.
We wish to urge fellow compatriots to see the National Assembly as partners in the progress of Nigeria.
The National Assembly is the soul of democracy and the 10th Senate shall join hands with other arms of government and our forward-looking Nigerians to sing new songs of progress, development, safety and all-round economic recovery and growth,”Adaramodu stated.
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