The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, has slammed the members of the House of Representatives over the decision to slash their salaries by 50 percent for six months.
News360 Info reported that the latest development followed the adoption on Thursday of an amendment to a motion’s prayer moved by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, on the need for lawmakers to sacrifice 50% of their N600,000 monthly salaries to support Nigerians.
He said the salary cut is to be used to support the federal government’s efforts to address the rising cost of foodstuffs in the country to alleviate the hardship Nigerians are going through.
The motion was adopted and referred to the committees on Humanitarian Affairs, Finance and Budget for compliance.
With each member paying N300,000 into a common purse, the legislative chamber will contribute N108 million monthly to the Federal Government and N648 million for six months.
However, in a post on X, Atiku condemned the move, asking the lawmakers to slash their allowances instead of their salaries.
According to Atiku, the country can no longer afford to borrow to fund irresponsibility in government.
He wrote, “The demons are in allowances and not salaries. There’s too much wastage and prioritisation of non-essential expenditures. What we want is an across the board cut in expenses pork. We can no longer afford to borrow to fund irresponsibility in government.”
