A report by Daily Sun says some Nigerian federal legislators are being harassed by commercial banks due to loans they took from them to prosecute the 2015 elections.
Some of the lawmakers who spoke on the issue said they contested against powerful forces & had to borrow money to buy return tickets.
An unnamed senator from the North said 'I have been in the National Assembly for a while now. I moved from the house of Reps to the Senate in 2011. But this time around i spent about #1 billion.
Some of us thought it would be business as usual, as i speak the bank which gave me part of the money is threatening to take over my house in Abuja, which i bought when i came to the Senate in 2011.
This is different from the fact that they arbitrarily review the interest rate on the loan.
I am not sure i can pay off that loan in the next 3 years with the way things are going right now. Apart from my statutory salary & allowances, i have not got anything from this place.
Another senator from the South South also said " I have been contesting since 2003.
In 2003, i did not really spend money apart from monies for campaign. But in 2007, i spent so much. I gave $1500 each to all the delegates. I won the primaries but was denied the ticket.
In 2011, i ran against the same man. I did not win even after paying $2000 to each delegate. Luckily in 2005 i got the ticket. I spent over #300 million just for the last election. If i add up what i have spent since 2003, its over #1 billion.
The report also revealed that since the inauguration of this present Assembly last year, salaries & allowances of lawmakers are some times delayed for weeks.
When you take loan & have an arrangement to pay monthly, their is a huge fine when you default. I have been receiving my salaries & allowances late, & the bank is finning me heavily. By the time they take out their deductions, i am left with nothing, a lawmaker lamented.
A house of Representatives member from Ebonyi state, Igariwey Enwo who confirmed the story said, " I cannot specify but i know a lot of people who borrowed money to run for elections. Their is no doubt about that, their is also no doubt that things are difficult for some of them.
Meanwhile, the federal government of Nigeria has waded into the mass retrenchment currently going on in the financial service industry. Two days ago, Nigeria's minister of labour & employment Dr Chris Ngige has directed the immediate suspension of the on-going retrenchment in the banking sector pending the outcome of the conciliatory meetings in the industry.
Source: naija.com
