There seems to be no respite yet for the troubled House of Representatives as the Central Bank of Nigeria has barred commercial banks from giving it fresh loan facilities.
THE PUNCH learnt on Sunday that the CBN Governor Mr. Lamido Sanusi, warned banks against overtures by the House to get a fresh N10bn loan to offset the salaries and allowances owed members of the lower arm of the National Assembly.
A commercial bank had reportedly withheld the allowances of the lawmakers over a
N10bn loan the leadership admitted to have secured in May 2010 to manage the affairs of the House.
Each of the 360 members of the House is entitled to an official quarterly allocation of N28.9m. However, they allegedly jacked up the allocation to N42m in July 2010.
They have been unable to collect the second quarter allocation for this year, owing to the action of the bank.
In addition, about 260 members who are not returning to the House, have outstanding severance packages and other privileges yet to be paid.
Each of the 11 suspended and re-admitted members led by Mr. Dino Melaye is also said to have about N120m unpaid allowances covering 10 months.
A row almost broke out on the floor of the House last Wednesday when members learnt that their allowances had been withheld by a bank because the House had not been able to offset the N10bn facility.
Bankole, who narrowly escaped suspension last week, is expected to brief the lawmakers today on the matter.
The House leadership had resolved to approach banks and the Presidency to secure funds to pay the oustanding allowances of the legislators.
A member of the House told our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday that they were expecting that the allowances would be paid to them on Tuesday (tomorrow).
He said, “All these allowances are outstanding; they have not been paid. Last week (Thursday), the leadership was momentarily left off the hook after a commitment by the Speaker (Mr. Dimeji Bankole) that he was going to find ways of paying the money.
“From the understanding we reached last week, our money is supposed to be paid on Tuesday (tomorrow).”
Investigations, however, revealed that the leadership made the commitment because it was hoping on securing a fresh loan to pay the allowances.
The loan, it was gathered, was rolled into the 2011 national budget.
But, findings on Sunday indicated that the situation in the House was compounded by the refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to sign the 2011 budget into law.
It was gathered that two commercial banks the leadership reportedly approached for a loan between Thursday and Friday last week, declined to help.
A National Assembly source, who made this known to our correspondent said, “They have been to Intercontinetal Bank and GTBank. “But both banks declined to help, using the CBN’s directive as their excuse. So, as we speak, there is no money yet; the confusion is far from being over.”
Findings showed that an alleged bid by the House to get the CBN to grant a waiver to allow the banks to give the loan also hit a brick wall.
Sanusi’s grouse with the House is said to be the “humiliation he suffered” in the hands of lawmakers in November 2010 following a statement he made to the effect that the National Assembly consumed 25 per cent of the nation’s overhead budget.
Both the Senate and the House had separately summoned him to appear before their committees to provide proof for his statement.
When contacted for reactions, the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Mr. Ita Enang, said that only those who were involved in the negotiations for the loan could comment on the issue.
Enang told our correspondent to direct questions about negotiations for the loan to either Bankole or the Management of the National Assembly.
He said, “In addition, you can talk to the Chairman of the Committee on House Services (Mr. Yakubu Dogara).
“I am not involved in the negotiations for the loan; the speaker and the management (bureaucracy of National Assembly) are involved.
“They are the ones who can speak on it. I am not in a position to comment on the loan as the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business.”
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