Briga News Nigeria
Yemi Adaramodu, spokesperson of the senate, says no member of the national assembly will receive any money from the N70 billion budgeted to “support their working conditions”.
In a statement on Sunday, Adaramodu said the fund is for purchase of furniture and to carry out repairs in lawmakers’ offices.
On Thursday, both chambers of the national assembly earmarked N70 billion for themselves in an amendment to the 2022 supplementary budget.
Many Nigerians criticised the appropriation owing to the fact that President Bola Tinubu sought and got approval to borrow $800 million to be distributed N8,000 each for 12 million households for six months in a bid to cushion the removal of subsidy on petroleum motor spirit (PMS).
The senate spokesperson said the claims that the budget was “padded” to accommodate the N70 billion are false, adding that the lawmakers only fulfilled their constitutional duty.
“Suffice to say that the passage is part of the absolute constitutional duty of the senate,” he said.
