Why Should We Disclose Our Earnings? - House Of Reps Refuse To Comment On Salaries

Posted by Odinaka on Thu 15th Mar, 2018 - tori.ng

Lawmakers of the house of representatives at the National Assembly, Abuja, have declined requests by an online publication to disclose their salaries and running cost, have hit the rocks.

NASS Abuja

While speaking in an exclusive interview with TheCable, spokesman of the federal house of representatives, Abdulrazak Namdas, unbehalf of his fellow lawmakers declined requests to disclose their salaries and running cost, and expressed fury when contacted over the issue.

Recall that recently, the senator representing Kaduna central, Shehu Sani, disclosed that apart from the basic monthly salary of N750,000, each senator gets N13.5 million as “running cost”.

In a swift reaction when asked to confirm the claim, Namdas said; “Democracy is not only about lawmakers…why should I disclose what I earn as a lawmaker.

“I’m not talking about the running cost of lawmakers. I can’t talk on that for lawmakers in the house of representatives because we have done that before. Why should I disclose it? If you think it is a public information, then go to the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

“Do you know the salary of a minister? Is he not a public official? Why are you bothering on our own? Democracy is not about only legislators.

“I cannot say this is what I earn because you don’t know the salary of a minister, and they are public officials too. But if a member of the house of representatives says he earns this amount, then I can clarify.”

When told that the public is interested in knowing the earning of the lawmakers, he said: “If people are asking questions, let them be asking. It is natural for them to ask questions.

“The people don’t want to know about legislators alone. They also want to know about the executive and judiciary. So, why are you only asking the legislators?”

Jerry Alagboso, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker from Imo state, feigned ignorance of his earnings, and when asked to give details of the earnings of lawmakers in the lower legislative chamber, he said: “I don’t know anything about that (the earnings).”

When a correspondent probed further, the lawmaker fired back in anger: “Why do you have to ask me about that? Go and meet the clerk of the national assembly.”

An All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker from Adamawa, Abubakar Garba, in a response to an enquiry of their salaries, said; “I am not supposed to talk about that.”

Also a PDP lawmaker, from Ekiti state, Aina Akinola, directed a reporter to Namdas, “he (Namdas) is the image maker of the house. Go and talk to Namdas. He is the person you should talk to.”