MY COLLEAGUE COULDN’T PAY DAUGHTER’S SCHOOL FEES DESPITE BEING A LAWMAKER – REP

A member of the House of Representatives, Chinedu Obika, has disclosed that a fellow lawmaker was unable to raise ₦700,000 to pay his daughter’s school fees two months ago.

Obika said he personally stepped in to help the colleague settle the bill.

The lawmaker, who represents the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency of the Federal Capital Territory, made the disclosure while responding to public perception that members of the National Assembly are overpaid, in an interview on KAA Truths posted on Thursday.

Obika said the incident showed that not all lawmakers benefit from the “personal enrichment” often attributed to the National Assembly by Nigerians.

“Now let me tell you something you don’t know. I can tell you that about two months ago, a colleague of mine could not pay ₦700,000 for his daughter’s school fees, and I was the one who helped him get that done; a member!” he said.

He said the incident was proof that members who kept quiet in the House often did so not because they were being paid off, but because they had nothing to show for their positions.

“So if it’s about personal enrichment, that’s why members are not speaking. If you’re not getting anything, you’re not speaking.

“I have never seen that kind of thing in my life, in fact, one member fought over it. National Assembly members fight when good things go to them, not when they keep quiet. So outsiders think it’s when they keep quiet that something is wrong,” he said.

Obika did not name the colleague involved in the school fees incident.

He, however, insisted that every entitlement due to members of the National Assembly was a matter of public record, and challenged Nigerians to demand specifics rather than rely on unverified claims about lawmakers’ earnings.

“Every entitlement meant for a member is publicly available. If you haven’t found something specific, tell me, ‘Honourable, they said this is such-and-such amount’, and I’ll respond to it directly,” he said.