Perceptions That NASS Members Are Tremendously Rich Untrue – Abbas

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Tajudeen Abbas says the perception that members of the National Assembly were tremendously rich was untrue.

Mr Abbas stated this in Abuja during an interactive session with parliamentary reporters organized by the adhoc committee of the House on Media and Public Affairs.

The Speaker who was representated by the Minority leader, Mr. Kingsley Chinda urged the media to help correct the impression stressing that the parliament was the unsung arm of the government.

“You are aware that the parliament is the unsung arm of the government. A lot of the things that people are fed with, you are the cooks. We are partners in Nigeria’s project, that’s why you were invited.

“This arm of government is not as rich as being projected. You have heard that members go home with N30 million every week. You will also hear that Nigerian parliamentarians earn much more than American parliamentarians. It is only you that can help to right this wrong. Whilst, we are not prepared to hoodwink the media, our plea is to ask you to give out the correct information. Pls, make use of the adhoc committee. Relate with them and publish what is true. It will be better for us. We have no other country”.

He appealed to the media to work with members of the house of Representatives to right the perceived wrongs of the past.

“We need you. We will need to work with you. The intention is not to destroy the country but to make the country a better place. Let your information be the information that will not destroy us but information that will right the wrong in the society”, he said.

Also speaking, the majority leader of the House, Professor Julius Ihonvbere said the media was the most unpopular arm of government.

He also appealed with them to help report the activities of the parliament in the right manner.

“How many people know the number of institutions the House is responsible for? We are not telling our stories. How many motions in the 9th House? It is not out there. We are going to do all that we can to strengthen those that work for the media and media related issues.

“They still believe that constituency money are given to us. We are not scared of those that are adversarial. We are coming out with a lot of proposals.

”It is the most unpopular arm of government. We are not worried about that but we want people to hear the story. We want you to get the fact and put the story out there. We will work with this adhoc committee so that what comes out of it will help us to deliver. We are ready to work with you and listen to your suggestions”, he said”.

Earlier in her opening remarks, the chairman of the adhoc committee, Kadijat Bukar
Abba- Ibrahim said the interactive session was one in a series of engagements with various stakeholders in the fulfillment of their mandate.

“Together, we can make the House of Reps ad-hoc Committee proud in discharging her responsibilities” she said.

On his part, the Deputy Clerk of the House, Emmanuel Agada also pledged to work with the media to achieve success.

Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji