Media adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe has raised concern over the welfare of Senator Sumaila Kawu in the upper legislative chamber, expressing hope that Godswil Akpabio, the Senate president does not suspend or strip him of his position.
Ibe’s concern follows revelations by Kawu over the monthly earnings of the senators, which hitherto been a subject of debate in the polity.
Kawu, had in an interview with the BBC Hausa service revealed that senators earn N1 million as monthly salary but get N21 million monthly as running cost.
Ibe hailed his courage for speaking truth to power and revealing the most kept secret by the lawmakers.
Posting on X he said: “Senator Sumaila Kawu has courageously stepped up to assert that his monthly take home is N21 million in allowances apart from about N1 million in salary thus vindicating former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s accusation that it was immorally wrong of the Senator Godswill Akpabio-led NASS to fix own salaries and allowances in contravention of the laws of Nigeria.
“The position of Sen. Sumaila (I do hope that the chopping Sen. Akpabio will not suspend him like Ningi or strip him of his position like Ndume) not only confirms what Obasanjo said, it also puts a lie to the official response of the Senate that it does not fix its own salaries and allowances. In an institution peopled with lackeys with no balls to hold the reckless executive to account, Sen. Sumaila’s courageous act is worthy of commendation.
“It is, however, ironic that the NASS which is saddled with the task of making laws for the good governance of Nigeria, is the one that is breaking the law and undermining the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC), which is the commission that is constitutionally empowered to fix salaries and allowances of public officials, including members of the NASS. It is the responsibility of the RMFAC to man up and implement the law as it relates to fixing the salaries and allowances of public officials.
“Akpabio and his “chop(ping))” gang can now see why the hungry and justifiably angry Nigerians took to the streets for 10 days on the #EndBackGovernanceProtest to #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria.
“And for the Dele Alakes of this world, who has stepped up the propaganda machinery of the President Bola Tinubu administration, the “Movement” he alluded to were not focused on forcing a change of government, but to sack the hunger in their stomachs caused by the trial-and-error policies of this administration.”