News
Senators’ N29m earning not a lot of money, ex-lawmaker claims
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
A former senator who represented Adamawa North Senatorial District, Ishaku Abbo, has claimed that the monthly earnings of senators are only “big on paper” and not enough for the demands and challenges of their office.
In an interview on Arise TV on Sunday, Abbo stated that his salary and allowances while serving as a senator totaled N14.4 million, while today senators earn up to N29 million.
He said, “When I was in the Senate, cumulatively, all the allowances were N14.4 million per month. You have a wardrobe allowance, a vehicle allowance, and other allowances put together that were N14.4 million, including the N1 million salary.
“It is about N29 million now. N29 million looks big on paper. I’m saying this as a honest man. I’m not trying to support the National Assembly, and I’ve been a member of that vilified institution for five years. I am not standing with them, but I’ll bear the facts on the table.”
Abbo further expressed that he became poorer after quitting his business to become a senator.
He added, “I had to leave the company I founded, in which I was the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, to go into governance when I won the election.
“I had to start subsiding my life because the money that was allocated to my office was absolutely nothing considering the demand and challenges faced by my own constituents on a daily basis.
“I had a case of just one person I took to the hospital; I spent N14 million on one person.
“And every month, from all over Adamawa State and other states, my office was besieged with people looking for help.
“I had to start calling some state governors to help me with cases that are being brought from their states into my office.”
Abbo further alleged that some state governors go home with up to N1 billion for state responsibilities.
“From N14 million, I was paying for people’s scholarships, subsiding people’s expenses while a state governor in this country is going home with over N700 million security vote every month, some go home with N1 billion to do other security issues,” he said.
“I am poorer, much poorer as a man when I became a politician than I was before I became a politician,” Abbo added.
PUNCH reports that the remuneration of Nigerian lawmakers has long been a contentious issue, sparking debates across the country and beyond.
Abbo further expressed that he became poorer after quitting his business to become a senator.
He added, “I had to leave the company I founded, in which I was the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, to go into governance when I won the election.
“I had to start subsiding my life because the money that was allocated to my office was absolutely nothing considering the demand and challenges faced by my own constituents on a daily basis.
“I had a case of just one person I took to the hospital; I spent N14 million on one person.
“And every month, from all over Adamawa State and other states, my office was besieged with people looking for help.
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“I had to start calling some state governors to help me with cases that are being brought from their states into my office.”
Abbo further alleged that some state governors go home with up to N1 billion for state responsibilities.
“From N14 million, I was paying for people’s scholarships, subsiding people’s expenses while a state governor in this country is going home with over N700 million security vote every month, some go home with N1 billion to do other security issues,” he said.
“I am poorer, much poorer as a man when I became a politician than I was before I became a politician,” Abbo added.
PUNCH reports that the remuneration of Nigerian lawmakers has long been a contentious issue, sparking debates across the country and beyond.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently chided the federal lawmakers for fixing their salaries and emoluments.
The Senate, however, refuted the claims by Obasanjo, stating that they were lies.
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission also stated that each of the 109 senators in the upper chamber receives a total of N1.06m in salary and allowances per month.
News
I Can’t Feed My Family Again; I Make N20,000 Daily But Spend N17,000 On Fuel — Taxi Driver Laments
Despite earning N20,000 daily, Ajibaye says he takes home only N3,000 after fuel expenses, leaving him unable to cater to his children and wife.
A commercial driver identified as Wahab Ajibaye based in Ilorin, Kwara State has expressed frustration over the rising fuel prices, saying it has left him struggling to provide for his family.
Despite earning N20,000 daily, Ajibaye says he takes home only N3,000 after fuel expenses, leaving him unable to cater to his children and wife.
He said: “I am buying fuel for N1100 and I make N20,000 (daily) but I take only N3,000 with me to my house (after work). I am the owner of my car but I am no longer making enough to cater to my children and my wife. The All Progressives Congress (APC) government will not end well. Nigeria is becoming worse and we pray God takes away this set of current leaders.”
Ajibaye blamed the ruling APC government for the hardship faced by Nigerians, saying, “Their government is bringing more suffering. They’re not ashamed, despite many Nigerians cursing them. They should rethink.”
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had recently agreed that the policies initiated by President Bola Tinubu resulted in growing economic hardships in Nigeria.
The party in a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Barrister Felix Morka had said this, while responding to a former national vice chairman (North West) of the party, Salihu Mohammed Lukman.
Recall that Lukman had berated the party for bad governance, adding that former President Muhammadu Buhari and incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have failed to deliver on their campaign promises.
Lukman, therefore, urged opposition leaders to unite and work hard to defeat the APC-led government in 2027.
But reacting, Morka in a statement on Tuesday argued that President Tinubu was taking bold measures to reset the country’s “long broken economy”, explaining that his reforms had increased economic hardship in the country.
News
LASG shuts down Idera market over ‘environmental pollution
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) says it has sealed off the Idera market in the Oshodi metropolis.
In a statement on Thursday, Ajayi Lukman, LAGESC spokesperson, said the agency sealed the market due to unhygienic practices and indiscriminate dumping of refuse, which contravened the environmental law of the state.
He said the measure was taken to enforce adherence to environmental cleanliness across registered markets in the state.
‘‘Our operatives stationed across the Oshodi division during routine market monitoring identified the filth, unhygienic practices, and indiscriminate dumping of refuse around the Idera Market area, which prompted us to seal off the market until further notice,” the statement reads.
Lukman quoted Olaniyi Cole, the corps marshal of the agency, as decrying the level of hygiene at the market, which could lead to an outbreak of diseases.
He said Cole frowned at the inability of the market leadership to provide a valid waste collection contract, which resulted in the heaps of refuse in the facility.
He added that the display of wares for sale on road setbacks, lay-bys, medians, verges, kerbs, street trading, and hawking remained banned in the metropolis.
The LAGESC corps marshal reiterated the ban on the sales, distribution, and usage of styrofoam in the state, noting that anyone found culpable would be punished decisively.
News
Hours to Edo guber polls, major opposition candidate crumbles structure for Ighodalo
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Hours to the Edo State governorship election, the guber candidate of the All Peoples Party (APP)Amb Osalumese Areloegbe on Thursday morning collapsed the structure for the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Asue Ighodalo and his running mate, Osarodion Ogie Esq.
Addressing journalists at the party secretariat in Benin City, Areloegbe said his decision to collapse the structure for the PDP candidate was because he believed that Ighodalo had all it would take to govern the state to greater heights.
According to him, I urged all my followers and supporters to disregard any information that I have aligned with the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo.
“I am supporting Asue Ighodalo because he is competent, not that I am not competent but I believe Asue is on the forefront. That is my reason for supporting his candidacy.
“My party is aware because they have been having a series of negotiations for us to align with the APC, and I told them categorically that I am supporting PDP. My eighteen local government followers are in full support of my decision, I mean 100 per cent supporting the PDP candidate, Barr. Asue Ighodalo and his running mate, Barr. Osarodion Ogie in this election.
“My choice for Asue Ighodalo is because, apart from myself, I see him as the next better candidate that I can support and I can put my weight on because he has the capacity, mentally, physically and otherwise to pilot the affairs of Edo State to greater heights.
“The national secretariat of my party, APP – they are in Abuja and I am in the state, and know much more of what is happening in Edo State. They are not here and don’t know what is going on here in Edo. And I am in a position to tell them what will be better for the Edo people.
“There is a parable that says, ‘You cannot shave a man’s head when he is not present’. I am here in Edo State and I know who to support and why I am supporting him. The national leadership might have taken a different tone, but this is what I and my followers have chosen.
“We had a series of other politicians who had made such decisions before. That is why I agreed with the support of my supporters to collapse my structure for the governorship candidate of the PDP Barr. Asue Ighodalo and his running mate, Barr. Osarodion Ogie.”
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