Bishop to newly elected legislators: Slash your outrageous allowances

The Bishop of the Egba Diocese of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Commu­nion), Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Adekunle, yesterday, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, tasked the newly elected members of the National and State Houses of Assem­bly to drastically reduce the “outrageous salaries and allowances” being collected by the outgoing lawmakers at the state and Federal lev­els.

Adekunle warned the in­coming federal and state lawmakers to refrain from adopting the corrupt stance of their predecessors, who he said, allotted outrageous salaries and allowances to themselves without giv­ing any consideration to the wellbeing of the ordinary masses of the country.
The cleric made the call while delivering his charge to the Third Session of the 13th Synod of the Diocese of Egba with the theme: “Commination: Its Liturgi­cal and Theological Impli­cations (Rebuke, Remorse, Repentance, Restitution, Re­mission and Restoration).post by expdonaloaded.blogspot.com...” Prominent Nigerians, who attended the event included Governor Ibikunle Amosun, the head of the defunct In­terim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan; foremost industrialist, Chief Olusegun Osunkeye; former Nigerian High Commission­er to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade and the Olori Parakoyi of Eg­baland, Chief Kashimawo Laloko, who represented the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Ad­edotun Gbadebo.
The bishop said: “Let us appeal to the conscience of the incoming senators and honourable representatives to the Federal and state Houses of Assembly not to toe the line of corruption of the previous assembly­men in allotting outrageous salaries and allowances to themselves at the expense of the wellbeing of the citizens of the country. They should be courageous enough to cancel some of these per­quisites and slash down the contemptible amount allot­ted to themselves.
“By this, funds will be available for infrastructure developments and sponsor­ship of social/welfare pro­grammes. There should be a common focus on how to reinstate a vibrant national economy and a functional system.”
The cleric also harped on the need for the president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari to live up to the ex­pectations of the majority of Nigerians, who voted for him.