The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Hon. Nelson Len, said the allowance being owed to staff of the Assembly was incurred by the immediate past administration of governor Darius Ishaku.
Len explained that when they came on board in June this year, the house, saddened by the development approached the state governor, Agbu Kefas, adding that he, afterwards approved the payment of seven years’ outfit allowance.
He added that the allowance will be paid when the finances of the state improve.
“The Governor approved the money pending when there will be improvement in resources and finances of the state. Approval and payment are two different things. The staff will be paid once there is cash backing for the approval.
“The story that money has been released to the House for the payment of staff outfit allowance is misleading and capable of bringing disharmony between the House leadership and staff of the Assembly.
“As members, we have the welfare of these staff in mind. Without them, the day-to-day administrative work of the house will not be possible, so the Assembly will not deliberately hold monies meant for the staff,” he said.
Len clarified that the outfit allowance was different from the running costs of the House of Assembly, urging writers on social media platforms to always verify facts before posting their content to avoid misinforming the public.
He also stated that the N5bn allocated to the House in the supplementary budget was for the renovation and construction of new structures in the Assembly complex and not for payment of outfit allowance.
