Akala induces Oyo legislators with N20million each plus free foreign trip
Ibadan - Each member of the Oyo State House of Assembly is to receive N20m as constituency allowance, courtesy of the Governor, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala.
The Speaker of the House, Mr. Moroof Atilola (Peoples Democratic Party, PDP), and Leader of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in the House, Mr. Abiodun Awoleyeof both confirmed that the money would be paid in two tranches of N10m, with the first instalment said to be ready for collection.
The governor is also said to have arranged a 10-day foreign trip for the lawmakers, scheduled for May 19 to 29.
This will be the final straw that will break the back of the legislative arm of government. Before now they have been a rubber stamp of the executive.
“Now that they are being induced with N20m, there is nothing the governor send to them that will not be passed. I don’t know the meaning of this constituency thing when these lawmakers are not contractors.”
It was, however, gathered that the lawmakers had been on the neck of the governor since last year to approve the constituency allowance for them, which he delayed till this year on the excuse that it could not be accommodated in last year’s budget.
The lawmakers were said to have upped this year’s appropriation bill to cater for the constituency allowance, while the governor had been reluctant to release the money until last month.
Alao-Akala, however, varied the payment term by opting to first pay N10m, with a pledge to pay the remaining N10m by the last quarter of the year.
The lawmakers were said to have initially rejected the proposal, saying that their counterparts in the neighboring states got a lump sum of N20m as constituency allowance.
Soon after they bowed to the proposal, it was again learnt that another disagreement arose when the governor insisted that five per cent of the N10m would be deducted as Value Added Tax.
After a heated debate that lasted for a few days, the lawmakers were said to have succumbed to the governor by agreeing to collect N9.5m each.
On the foreign trip, it was learnt that a company in which an unnamed government official had interest had tabled a proposal before the governor for the lawmakers to travel to the United States of America, Canada or London.
While the lawmakers were billed to attend a “legislative training workshop” for six days, it was gathered that the remaining four days was added to enable them to relax.
The source said the lawmakers would know their destination when they received their visa being processed in Lagos by this week.
The lawmakers would also receive another sum as estacode for the journey, which the executive had not made public.
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