FCT, Abuja – The Senate has strongly denied allegations that it is involved in determining its salaries or receiving special fiscal packages from the Presidency.
This claim, which reportedly emerged during a visit by members of the House of Representatives to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has sparked widespread controversy in the polity.
In a statement released by Senate Spokesman Yemi Adaramodu (APC, Ekiti South) on Sunday, August 11, in Abuja, the Senate described the allegations as an attempt to âcrucify the legislature by the centurions of political hypocrisy.â
Adaramodu stressed that no Senator has received any financial patronage from the Presidency, The Punch reported.
As reported by The Nation, he clarified that the constituency projects often linked to the legislature are merely suggested and nominated by Senators, following practices common in other democracies worldwide.
Speaking further, Adaramodu stressed that Senate only received the salary allocated to it by the Revenue Mobilisation Fiscal Allocation Commission, in strict accordance with constitutional provisions.
He added that the Senate challenges anyone with credible evidence to present contrary facts, describing any suggestion that the National Assembly fixes its salaries as âuncharitable and satanic.â
Adaramodu stated:
Read Senate full statement here:
Obasanjo earlier accused the national assembly of determining their salaries by themselves.
Obasanjo also alleged that the executive was giving the federal lawmakers what they did not deserve and they were collecting it.
According to the former president, the lawmakers collected N200 million each, adding that all these were immoral.
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that Obasanjo called on President Bola Tinubu to heed the demands of protesting youths.
The former president made the call when six members of the national assembly paid a courtesy visit to his residence in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.
Obasanjo then urged President Tinubu to listen to the youths’ demands, adding that their demands were legitimate.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
