The Senate president, Godswill Akpabio has said that the salaries of members of the National Assembly were not enough to take care of demands from their constituents.
Akpabio stated this on Monday while contributing to the debate on a motion sponsored by Abdulrahman Kawu Suleiman, member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) representing Kano South, on the need to avert an impending strike planned by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
He said with the volume of requests from various constituents represented in the National Assembly, lawmakers’ earnings were too inadequate to cater for those requests.
Akpabio conceded that though hardships associated with the removal of subsidy on petroleum products were enormous, there was a need for the people to be more patient with the government while steps were being taken to ameliorate the sufferings of the people.
In defending his motion, Kawu said “The strike would cripple the country as movement would be severely curtailed as commercial transport operators would withdraw their services, while markets, schools and healthcare facilities would be forced to shut down.â€
In addition, he said, “The strike threat by the NLC, if not averted, could plunge Nigeria into deeper economic woes, dislocate businesses, hunger, frustration, more hardship that would lead to unquantified financial losses and reduce Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The Senate after the debate demanded its leadership to interface between the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Federal Government to avert the strike.