The Nigerian House of Representatives said that effectively carrying out its constitutional mandate has been a tedious task due to the unavailability of funds.
Indicating that the National Assembly is broke, the spokesperson of the House, Benjamin Kalu, while addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday said, the 2021 budget of the National Assembly should be reviewed upward to enable it to cope with the situation.
“Yes, the House is broke. I have said it before and I am saying it again and I am not afraid of saying it.
“This is the fact. Until Nigerians believe that the appropriation that was made for the running of the National Assembly which was done when the exchange rate of naira to dollar was 180 is less now than what it used to be.
“The dollar equivalent today has gone up to over N400, the purchasing power of the budget as it is now, is weaker than it was 10 years ago.
“Why are you afraid to raise the budget of the National Assembly that will enable us conduct our services efficiently and effectively?
“We appropriate for agencies to run effectively and yet, we are in penury trying to run our own constitutional mandate, it is a disservice to Nigerians and the poor budget of the parliament is a disservice to Nigerians,” he said.
In the 2021 budget, a sum of N128 billion was appropriated for both the Senate and the House of Representatives as well. The two chambers of the National Assembly were also allocated N125 billion in the 2020 Budget.
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