Over 200 members of the House of Representatives have taken delivery of brand new exotic cars, though all 360 lawmakers have yet to receive their July salaries.
On Sunday, the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, disclosed that over 200 members had been given Peugeot 508 series for “utility services.”
Namdas stated that by the plan of the House, all 360 lawmakers would have taken delivery of their cars by December 31. Each of the vehicles cost N17m and will consume a total of N6.1bn to supply all 360 units.
Namdas spoke further, “Over 200 have been supplied out of 360 and we are still getting more. Every member will get a car by the end of this year. The issue is that the payment and supply of the vehicle is being done in instalments."
“The House and the company (Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Limited) agreed to this arrangement of paying and supplying in instalments. Naturally, not all the members can get their cars at the same time and we have explained to them why this cannot be possible.”
The supply of the 200 cars still did not address the problem of the non-payment of lawmakers, who are without their July salaries. Lawmakers take a salaries of between N690,000 and N1.1m monthly, depending on how much deductions are made from a member’s pay to settle debts and other facilities.
In addition, they receive a quarterly allocation of between N27.9m and N33m. But, a dip in flow of funds to the legislature in recent months and delays have led to cuts, affecting the pockets of the majority of members. Investigations revealed that most of the members had stayed back in Abuja, one week after the National Assembly adjourned for six weeks.
They are said not to be in a hurry to visit their constituencies for now due to the cash crunch. [Punch]
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