On Thursday, the Senate issued a stern warning of potential legal action against the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) regarding their assertion that lawmakers had received N100 million each as a government-issued palliative.
Christopher Onyeka, an aide to NLC President Joe Ajaero, allegedly stated that members of the National Assembly had been given more than N100 million each as relief funds to mitigate the impact of the petrol subsidy removal.
The Senate’s spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, categorically refuted this claim, deeming it bizarre, absurd, and beyond belief.
In a statement released on Thursday, Adaramodu characterized the assertion as yet another “malicious strategy employed by a desperate group of media and political agitators to tarnish the reputation of the Nigerian parliament and set legislators against the Nigerian public.”
“We believe that the public is aware that popular democracy is an anathema to some unpatriotic political mercenaries, hence their systemic blackmail of the parliament, which undoubtedly is the soul of democracy and sovereignty,” he added.
He urged the public, especially the Nigerian workers, to disregard “these unscrupulous pontiffs.”
He said, “The National Assembly shall not hesitate, henceforth to take constitutional and legal actions against these irreverent merchants of rumours and ill wills against legislators. The National Assembly should not be taken as a political scapegoat.
“We don’t expect anything less from the NLC leadership, we only opined that they would place national interest above partisan nihilistic outbursts.
“If the Congress wishes to serve as the conscience of Nigerian workers, it must purge itself of catalytic political voyages that can truncate our democracy. We believe that Nigerians see this new unscrupulous advocacy as a comedy to entertain only the unsuspecting.”