The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio has expressed discontentment with the total earning package of federal lawmakers.
Akpabio, who doubles as the Chairman of the National Assembly noted that with the volume of requests from various constituents represented in the National Assembly, lawmakers’ earnings were too inadequate to cater to those requests
The Senate President made this remark while contributing to the debate on a motion sponsored by Abdulrahman Kawu Suleiman (NNPP, Kano), on the need to avert an impending strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
He said, although the hardship associated with the removal of subsidies on petroleum products is much, Nigerians need to be more patient with the government, even as it devises steps to ameliorate their suffering.
Kawu, in defense of his motion, drew the attention of the Senate to the fact that “the strike would cripple the country. The movement would be severely curtailed. Commercial transport operators would withdraw their services, while markets, schools, and healthcare facilities would be forced to shut down.”
He warned that the action could heat the polity and gains from the strike could be far below costs to parties in the conflict.
“The strike threat by NLC, if not averted, could plunge Nigeria into deeper economic woes, dislocate businesses, cause hunger, frustration, and more hardship that would lead to unquantifiable financial losses and reduce Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.
“The NLC strike is also a bad reputation for the Nigerian economy and the educational system because it portrays the country in a bad light to the external world and discourages foreigners from coming to do business or study in the country,” he said.
The Senate, after the debate, mandated its leadership to interface between NLC and the Federal Government to avert the industrial action.
