Chief Joe Edionwele, a PDP member of the House of Representatives, yesterday protested against the debate for pay cut for legislators, describing the proponents of the crusade as ignorant. He said: “I think people are speaking out of ignorance. Even
before now, I was one of those who believed the same thing. The records will be made public. People in the oil and gas sectors, banking and even lecturers earn more than us and the President.
One of my friends told me that the salary and allowances I will earn will be N40m. I told him if I get that for 10 months, I will resign. I can tell you that by the time it is made public, people will sympathize with us. Legislators should earn well so that they will not be corrupt during their oversight functions. When people talk about pay cut, I laugh.
How much are we going to get back from the pay cut? There are so many things to cut down on. Look at the governors and their security votes. Their votes are over bloated. Look at the number of cars governors use. You heard when Buhari rejected 253 DSS operatives. What are you doing with that number? The security vote of a council chairman for instance is N2m. What is a local government chairman doing with such money?
Then a governor gets over N200m. Why should somebody then talk about a salary that is less than N1m? Mr. President, for instance, just got an approval for 15 special advisers. What are they advising? We really do not need all that. We must downsize in every sector. For instance, we should do away with the entertainment allowance. State Houses of Assembly enjoy it. Mr. President has about 3 bullet-proofs Mercedes Benz. Does he really need them?”….. he shld b trekking like his supporters, he added…..