By Daniel Kanu
Assistant Politics Editor
Irked by what he described as illegal tampering of money budgeted for the second Niger Bridge by the National Assembly, Presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) in the 2015 elections, Engnr Martin Onovo, has marked them as “insensitive, wicked and unpatriotic”
Onovo asked Nigerians to be wary of the activities of the National Assembly and to restrain them from carrying out actions beyond their constitutional right.
He expressed worry by the action of the lawmakers to increase its 2017 budget from 110billion to 125 billion, taking money from the second Niger Bridge budget.
The activist said the National Assembly has been acting on different occasions as if the institution is above the constitution, raising the alarm that their remuneration as well as its acts of illegality should no longer be tolerated by Nigerians.
Angry Onovo told The Niche “Whether you are the President, IPOB, OPC, National Assembly etc., you must stay within the law. This rogue National Assembly increased its 2017 budget from 110billion to 125 billion for 469 law makers, the same rogue National Assembly budgeted less than 310 billion for three hundred and Seventy thousand police officers to police the whole Nigeria”
“We tolerated it and that gave them the effrontery in the 2017 budget to remove money from critical capital project like the Niger Bridge, having removed the money they added it to their own budget.
“The appropriation bill proposed 119 billion for them which in the first place is very outrageous , but they still went ahead in their satanic greed increased it to 125billion in total disregard of the recession, of the salary arrears, of the lack of infrastructure and the security challenges the whole country is facing”
He noted further that “This same National Assembly has established a reputation for subversion of national security and national economic development. What do I mean? This same National Assembly outside its unjustifiable budget has continued to pay her members unimaginable sums under different unconstitutional guises like Senator Abdulmumin Jibrin confessed that he received over 600 million for running his office.
“What is running his office actually means? What legitimate sub-head is called running office? You pay staff through pay-roll, so what is running office? What is the legitimate remuneration of a Senator as established by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC)?
“How on earth can they go outside what the constitution allows for them? They have gone outside the constitution to compensate themselves and you think that is not a criminal action? Everybody must operate within the law, if you go outside the law you turn the country into a jungle|”
“They have gone to hide under the constitution amendment process to insert immunity for themselves. Why do they need immunity? Do you need immunity for doing the right thing? The only reason is to use it to hide their criminal activities.
“Their logic is that governors, president have immunity so they must have. Executive office holders must have immunity for stability in governance, it does not apply to the legislator. You cannot have development without stability. This is not acceptable, the Nigerian people must rein in, restrain and stop this National Assembly. If we don’t stop them they will run us out.
“Using the 2017 budget figures the average police man cost Nigeria a little above eight hundred thousand naira (N800, 000) but less than 850,000 per year that includes uniform, arms, patrol vehicles, fuel and the lazy, indolent, unproductive and unpatriotic national assembly people takes over 255 million averagely and we are tolerating it.
“If we tolerate it, it means that we are mad. How much does an average Professor cost us? This is intolerable. We know that the legislature is critical to democracy, we agree to that but I am saying that we must resist this nonsense from the national assembly.
