Various banks’ female marketers have flooded the International Conference Centre (ICC), venue of an ongoing induction course for newly elected Senators and House of Representatives members which started yesterday.
Investigations by Punch showed that the target of the banks largely was to entice the lawmakers to open accounts with them. Over 290 members of the House are newcomers, out of the total of 360. About 69 new senators are also newcomers, out of 109.
The marketers started tracing the lawmakers since Sunday night when Senate President, David Mark, declared the induction programme open at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
“They flooded the Congress Hall of the hotel Sunday night. They didn’t give the lawmakers breathing space, as they offered all sorts of facilities (loans) and seeking to maintain their accounts,” a senior legislative aide said.
It is not a surprise that the marketers are hell-bent on offering their services to the newly elected legislators. This is because a member of the House earns around N27.9m every quarter as official allowance. Presiding officers and other principal officers receive higher figures and this amount excludes a monthly salary of N1m.
Senators collect over N30m as quarterly allowance and receive higher salaries than their House counterparts..
“In the end, many lawmakers get loans in amounts ranging from N50m to upward of N200m. They will be here for four years and it is understandable that the banks see this as a window for quick returns,” a National Assembly official revealed.
One marketer, who gave her name simply as Elina, told opined that there was nothing wrong with seeking for “investment opportunities.”
She argued that being new in Abuja, most of the members needed information on sources of funding to assist them in settling down for the business of legislation.
“We know how it is; there will be accommodation challenges.Some need funding for transportation even before they get their official votes for vehicles and other support services.So, the banks are there to provide these support services by way of funding,” she added.
The National Assembly and its bureaucracy, including the National Assembly Service Commission, has a total budget of N120bn this year. The figure was a drop from the N150bn it had enjoyed since 2007.
Meanwhile, amidst rumours that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is set to zone the position of the Senate Presidency to the North-Central region against the wish of senators from the North East region, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is set to play a fast one the APC by backing Senator Danjuma Goje.
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