‘Nigerians must be ready to pay for democracy’
By Jide Jegede
May 23, 2011 02:00AM
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The chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Ayo Adeseun, has said that Nigerians should be ready to bear the cost if they truly desire a working democracy.

Mr Adeseun, who defended the jumbo pay of the members of the national assembly, encouraged Nigerians to look at the fruit of democracy rather than the financial input.

“Democracy is not cheap. Democracy is very expensive. But the product of the expense is what the people should focus on,” he said. We have not been doing that. People malign us in the assembly, that we are stealing the money. Well, I think we must have a whipping boy. Somebody must be at the receiving end. But if Nigerians want democracy they must be willing to pay for it.”

The lawmaker, who was elected on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) during the last election to represent Oyo Central in the senate, also hinted that the house would settle the N10 billion loan crisis before it winds up its parliamentary sessions this week.

Last week, the lower chamber of the nation’s legislature almost sacked the speaker, Dimeji Bankole, over the allegation of taking a N10 billion loan in the name of the house, a development that has affected the allowances of members.

However, Mr Adeseun told journalists last weekend that the lapses arose from an error made in the 2010 budget of the national assembly, adding that the hope of accommodating the effect of the error in the 2011 appropriation bill was dashed by the alarm raised by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the allegation that the legislature gulps the chunk of the nation’s overhead.

According to him, were it not for the refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to sign the recently passed supplementary budget, the issue would not have blown open to the public.

‘Jumbo pay is necessary’

According to Mr Adeseun, the leadership of the house was making necessary efforts to see that the issues are resolved “in a matter of days” and to ensure that the house does not close on a rancourous note.

“It is most unfortunate that the event came about because it takes away from the very quality work that the house had done in the last four years and it is a disservice to the members and the institution itself. But that is life. We can’t always determine how events unfold. We are very much on top of the situation and we will soon resolve the matter,” Mr Adeseun said. “I am confident that in the next few days we would have resolved the crisis in the house. All efforts are underway to ensure that members are paid their entitlements and that the house closes on a very positive note.”

Speaking in defence of the humongous constituency allowances accruable to the federal lawmakers, Mr Adeseun said they were provided for to ensure that each of them effectively performed their oversight function.

He disclosed that there are many expenses the lawmakers incur while carrying out such oversight functions that could not be recorded for public record.

The lawmaker however agreed that many of his colleagues simply convert the allowances to personal use, while the jobs they are meant for are left undone.

Mr Adeseun also spoke against the manner in which projects were being abandoned or badly executed across the country. Insisting that the nation did not lack the laws to address these anomalies, he said the implementation of those laws was the problem.

alj_harem:

fresh air !!!!!

beaf and others SE and SS people, goodluck to u all enjoy fresh air and PDP

maimalari:

‘Nigerians must be ready to pay for democracy’
By Jide Jegede
May 23, 2011 02:00AM
print email


The chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Ayo Adeseun, has said that Nigerians should be ready to bear the cost if they truly desire a working democracy.

Mr Adeseun, who defended the jumbo pay of the members of the national assembly, encouraged Nigerians to look at the fruit of democracy rather than the financial input.

“Democracy is not cheap. Democracy is very expensive. But the product of the expense is what the people should focus on,” he said. We have not been doing that. People malign us in the assembly, that[b] we are stealing the money.[/b] Well, I think we must have a whipping boy. Somebody must be at the receiving end. But if Nigerians want democracy they must be willing to pay for it.”

The lawmaker, who was elected on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) during the last election to represent Oyo Central in the senate, also hinted that the house would settle the[b] N10 billion[/b] loan crisis before it winds up its parliamentary sessions this week.

Last week, the lower chamber of the nation’s legislature almost sacked the speaker, Dimeji Bankole, over the allegation of taking a N10 billion loan in the name of the house, a development that has affected the allowances of members.

However, Mr Adeseun told journalists last weekend that the lapses arose from an error made in the 2010 budget of the national assembly, adding that the hope of accommodating the effect of the error in the 2011 appropriation bill was dashed by the alarm raised by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the allegation that the legislature gulps the chunk of the nation’s overhead.

According to him, were it not for the refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to sign the recently passed supplementary budget, the issue would not have blown open to the public.

‘Jumbo pay is necessary’

According to Mr Adeseun, the leadership of the house was making necessary efforts to see that the issues are resolved “in a matter of days” and to ensure that the house does not close on a rancourous note.

“It is most unfortunate that the event came about because it takes away from the very quality work that the house had done in the last four years and it is a disservice to the members and the institution itself. But that is life. We can’t always determine how events unfold. We are very much on top of the situation and we will soon resolve the matter,” Mr Adeseun said. “I am confident that in the next few days we would have resolved the crisis in the house. All efforts are underway to ensure that members are paid their entitlements and that the house closes on a very positive note.”

Speaking in defence of the humongous constituency allowances accruable to the federal lawmakers, Mr Adeseun said they were provided for to ensure that each of them effectively performed their oversight function.

He disclosed that there are many expenses the lawmakers incur while carrying out such oversight functions that could not be recorded for public record.

The lawmaker however agreed that many of his colleagues simply convert the allowances to personal use, while the jobs they are meant for are left undone.

Mr Adeseun also spoke against the manner in which projects were being abandoned or badly executed across the country. Insisting that the nation did not lack the laws to address these anomalies, he said the implementation of those laws was the problem.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/5703828-147/nigerians_must_be_ready_to_pay.csp

maimalari:

‘Nigerians must be ready to pay for democracy’
By Jide Jegede
May 23, 2011 02:00AM
print email


The chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Ayo Adeseun, has said that Nigerians should be ready to bear the cost if they truly desire a working democracy.

Mr Adeseun, who defended the jumbo pay of the members of the national assembly, encouraged Nigerians to look at the fruit of democracy rather than the financial input.
“Democracy is not cheap. Democracy is very expensive. But the product of the expense is what the people should focus on, he said.

The lawmaker, who was elected on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) during the last election to represent Oyo Central in the senate, also hinted that the house would settle the N10 billion loan crisis before it winds up its parliamentary sessions this week.

~Bluetooth:

I have always known that democracy is not meant for Nigeria.These guys are milking us dry and they are still trying to justify their stealing ? The country is doomed cuz I really pity the poor nigerians who are at the receiving end of all these madness.mschew

Kilode?!:

Ayo Adeseun (ACN,  Oyo Central) is an example of those blood-sucking pests we have to remove from our leadership space.




Texas State Budget 2010----> $91 Billion

Texas Legislator Salary------->$600/month(N90,000)

Texas Population --------------> 24 Million
(Texas is roughly the size of Nigeria and waaaaay less populated, but definitely waaaaay richer. YET, see what they pay their legislators?)



Nigerian Budget 2010---------> N4.6 Trillion($31 Billion)  

Nigerian Legislator Salary----> $1,200,000 Million (N182m)

Nigerian Population -----------> 150 Million

Ayo Adeseun is trying to justify these? calling it the cost of a "working democracy" in a country that comparatively makes "peanuts" in revenue every year? with a population of 150million people?  




For full effects:

US Legislator Salary----------->  $174,000 per year

No point stating US 2010 Budget? I will: ( $3.5 Trillion)

Population -----------------> 307 Million (barely double of our's)



I highlighted a state (Texas) with a buoyant oil economy to point out that our rot goes deep and beyond sickening. Yes, Granted, there is corruption everywhere in the world but in light of our people's poverty, our own corruption is unjustifiable and sickening.

I know my people love religion, but God can't fix what we are not ready to fix. My own proposal is that we pay legislators NO SALARY until the Nigerian economy gets to the top 10 in the world.

If you can't serve for free, go and start a business! (God knows we need those ) Let those who care about policy fix this country!


Links:

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/txp_media/html/leg/0205.html

http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Texas_state_budget

http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/40976/1/Senate-passes-N46tr-Budget-/Page1.html

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/senate_salaries.htm

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=art20101216521371

J12:

A nigerian politician is a nigerian politician, whether he is in ACN, PDP; APGA, ANPP, EFCC, FBI, CIA, PHD, Bleep. They are all self serving crooks.

agabaI23:

Anything bad is PDP.

I have said this many times, party is not the issue, corruption is an individual thing.

This is an ACN lawmaker yarning opata. Why have they refused to pass the FOI bill if they are working for the masses?

koruji:

Don't be discouraged. We need to keep a tab on our employees - and these lawmakers are our employees, or they will steal us blind!!!

Did you read the article?? He is not PDP he is ACN?? goes to show that regardless of party affiliations; greedy is always paramount.