– During elections, candidates run to various sources to secure financial loans to help them meet their electoral needs
– However, with President Muhammadu Buhari at the helm of affairs, the situation is now seriously biting for members of the National Assembly
In Nigeria, it is believed that politics is like business where an ‘investor’ recoups his money and makes some profit after being elected. But Under President Muhammadu Buhari, the case may be different.
Many political office holders, including members of the National Assembly are not finding it easy to make back their investments. Recall that some cabinet members in the Buhari government had once revealed that they are also passing through financial difficulties.
Lawmakers at a sitting at the National Assembly
Some senators have now had reasons to vent their frustration over their inability to make money as expected despite cries from Nigerians that the budget to the National Assembly should still be reduced.
In a report by Daily Trust, just like it is widely known, those seeking political offices often spend beyond the threshold stipulated by the electoral act.
Daily Trust says section 91 of the electoral act 2010 puts elections spending for Senate at N40 million and House of Representatives at N20 million.
For the Senate, violators could pay a fine of N600,000 or spend six months in imprisonment or both while for the House of Representatives, the fine is N500,000 or five months imprisonment or both.
Upon taking his oath of office, Buhari began implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) bringing all public funds into a pool from which money can be taken with permission.
Senator James Manager, a Peoples Democratic Party member representing Delta South, exposed the challenges faced by National Assembly members.
Though Manager has been at the Senate since 2003, he declared that senators were drained before, during and after the election by the public.
Daily Trust quotes the Senator as saying: “Calls are coming from all over the places, bring this and bring that even after the election, we are still spending. In the electoral act, there is specific amount but in practical terms it is not possible. We borrowed and are still borrowing.”
Speaking while screening Professor Okechukwu Ibeano for the position of national commissioner for the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the senator recalled how a senatorial candidate jumped into the lagoon after spending huge sum on election.
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