The Nigeria House of Representatives has issued a disclaimer on media reports claiming its members received #100m as palliatives from the Federal Government.
The spokesperson of the House, Akin Rotimi, in a statement issued on Wednesday, said the disclaimer was necessary owing to the media reports credited to the National Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Christopher Onyeka, who claimed that the executive arm had given N100 million to National Assembly members as palliatives.
He noted that the claim was baseless, inaccurate and fictitious. he said: “Transparency and truth in public discourse are necessary for a functioning democracy. While we doubt that Mr Onyeka was actually conveying the official position of the NLC on this claim, it is nonetheless important to correct such misinformation.
” We state categorically that Mr Onyeka lied in his claim that National Assembly members were given N100 million as palliatives. For the avoidance of doubt, at no time did members of the House of Representatives receive any money from the executive arm as palliatives. We, therefore, consider this statement malicious, irresponsible, and in bad faith.
“We consider it irresponsible and most unfortunate that Mr Onyeka would misrepresent facts in a bid to lend credence to otherwise valid demands of the NLC while seeking to denigrate the National Assembly and inciting the public against the institution.”
Rotimi emphasised that NLC, a major stakeholder in Nigeria, shoud desist from peddling lies, so as to maintain its legitimacy and sanctity.
The House afterwards demanded an immediate retraction of the publication along with an apology from NLC.
