Nigerians have taken to social media to condemn the Senate President, Sen. Godwill Akpabio, and the entire 10th Senate over the distribution of recess allowances to senators following conclusion of the screening and confirmation of ministerial nominees.
The screening exercise on 45 out of 48 nominees sent to it by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for confirmation was concluded by the federal lawmakers on Monday.
At the close of the exercise on Tuesday, the Senate President, apparently unaware that he was on live broadcast, let out an unusual cat, by announcing that ‘tokens’ have been sent to senators’ accounts by the clerk of the Assembly, Magaji Tambuwal.
To enable all of us to enjoy our holidays, a token has been sent to our various accounts by the Clerk of the National Assembly.”.
He, however, attempted to retract his statement, to no avail, when he sensed his colleagues’ discomfort at his erroneous disclosure.
Akpabio’s disclosure, coming at a time Nigerians were passing through the arrowing phase of the ex-petrol subsidy regime, for which the government has proposed the distribution of a paltry N8,000 each to “most vulnerable households” across the country, is expectedly causing heat across social media platforms.
Consequently, Nigerians across divides and demographics have taken to the internet sensitivity to the government for the plight of Nigerians.
While many knocked Akpabio for what has been termed as “rubbing it on their face”, others called for his resignation as Senate President.
Reacting to the development, a former Kaduna Central senator, Shehu Sani, hinted that such nonstatutory disbursements to legislators are not new but asserted that Senate President Akpabio only made a mistake in announcing the largest before cameras at the close of sitting on Tuesday
Crediting the Legislator’s accounts is done under the mute button”, the vocal senator said, as he added that Akpabio “mistakenly pressed the alarm.” Sanni wrote in a Twitter update.
To Comrade Timi Frank, activist, and former APC chieftain, crediting the senators’ bank accounts in the name of a ‘recess allowance’ is a show of shame. The Bayelsa-born politician, while calling for the resignation of Senator Akpabio also added that it was a mockery of democracy and Nigerians.
Another citizen who lent his voice to the issue said it is a pointer to the fact that the country may not be ready for the much-desired change
While the citizens are suffocating, Senators are sharing money for their “recess” after doing next to nothing in the past weeks other than bow-and-go ‘screening’ and ‘confirmation’. We are just not ready for a nation-state that works for all. Concluded John Ogunniran also on Twitter.
Another commenter, who goes by the name, Ibrahim Mahmoud condemns the senator’s “recess allowance” at a time when Nigerians are wriggling under a stifling socioeconomic situation created by the removal of fuel subsidies.
“Yet, over 2 MONTHS after the removal of subsidy, the common man is yet to get any palliative to help with the monumental suffering being experienced across the country.”