Hunger: Why We Haven’t Slash Our Salary By Half – Reps

Members of the Nigerian House of Representatives received full July salaries despite their earlier promise to donate 50% of their earnings to fight hunger and alleviate economic hardship in the country.

Recall that lawmakers in the lower chamber of the National Assembly resolved on July 18, 2024, to donate half of their monthly earnings to Nigeria for a six-month period.

But the spokesperson for the House, Rotimi Akin, in a statement on Wednesday, explained the delay in the implementation of the salary cuts.

Akin affirmed the House’s commitment to the 50% deduction, attributing the delay to bureaucratic procedures.

He said, “We acknowledge and regret that this resolution was not implemented by the bureaucracy as intended for the month of July.

“Resolutions of the House are ratified when the votes and proceedings of plenary are adopted on the next legislative day. Consequently, the bureaucracy was only formally instructed on July 23.”

He added that instructions for adjusting salaries had since been issued and would be enforced moving forward to ensure its pledge is fully realised.

He called for patience, assuring that the House would adhere to its promise and sustained efforts to earn the trust and confidence of all Nigerians.

The spokesman also clarified that each member of the House takes N600,000 as monthly salary against N900,000, which is being speculated.

“There is nothing to investigate, as some media houses reported, as the House’s position on this matter had been provided to some journalists who had reached out for clarification.”

“The House of Representatives has been inundated by some media outlets reporting claims of discrepancies in the salaries of members, suggesting that we received 100 per cent of our July salaries. The report claimed that our salary amounted to N936,979.

“We wish to clarify that the actual monthly salary for members is N600,000, after deductions for advances such as housing, which are paid at the commencement of the tenure,” he said.