Holiday allowance: ‘I haven’t received my own prayers’ – LP’s Senator Kingibe
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The senator representing the FCT and member of the Labour Party, LP, Ireti Kingibe, has stated she has not received the ‘prayers’ promised by the Senate President, Godswil Akpabio.
She revealed this during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Wednesday.
She said, “No, actually, I did not receive any prayers, but I will check my email for the prayers.”
“Truthfully I don’t know what he (Akpabio) is talking about, but most people assume that maybe it was allowances.
“They may be statutory things that would have been paid anywhere. I don’t think it was anything extra that we were supposed to be given. I certainly haven’t seen anything extra yet.”
When asked further about Nigerian senators being one of the highest paid in the world and the cost of running the national assembly, Kingibe said she feels uncomfortable but cannot change anything.
“Truthfully that is so, but I know that I can’t change anything. So I have a constituency office and a development office where I do development programs for the people, and hopefully anything extra I put in—any allowances—will go towards funding that office for the development programs.
“Obviously, I’m new, and we’ve been paid very little, but as they come in, a lot of it will go towards funding that office for the development programs.”
Recall that in a video that went viral, Akpabio was captured saying a token had been sent to senators to enjoy their holiday while adjourning plenary to September 26.
He said, “In order 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 renounced the statement after realizing he was speaking on live television.
“I withdraw that statement. In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the Senate President has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.”
