The House of Representatives has denied media reports that
its members received N100 million as palliatives from the executive arm of
government.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Akin Rotimi, the
spokesperson of the House, said they were compelled to respond following the
media reports credited to the National Assistant General Secretary of the
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Christopher Onyeka, who claimed that the
executive arm had given N100 million to National Assembly members as
palliatives.
Describing the claim as baseless and devoid of any factual
accuracy, he said: “Transparency and truth in public discourse are necessary
for a functioning democracy. While we doubt that Mr Onyeka was actually
conveying the official position of the NLC on this claim, it is nonetheless
important to correct such misinformation.
“We state categorically that Mr Onyeka lied in his claim
that National Assembly members were given N100 million as palliatives. For the
avoidance of doubt, at no time did members of the House of Representatives
receive any money from the executive arm as palliatives. We, therefore,
consider this statement malicious, irresponsible, and in bad faith.
“We consider it irresponsible and most unfortunate that Mr
Onyeka would misrepresent facts in a bid to lend credence to otherwise valid
demands of the NLC while seeking to denigrate the National Assembly and
inciting the public against the institution.”
The spokesperson stressed that NLC, as a critical
stakeholder in the development of Nigeria, has a voice, and it risks
delegitimising that voice if it is found to include fables in its legitimate
agitations.
The House subsequently demanded an immediate retraction of
this “lie” and a public apology from NLC.
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