Ademola Adeshina
The House of Representatives has denied the distribution of 360 official vehicles to its members at this critical moment that the country is battling to contain the dreaded coronavirus pandemic spreading across the country like wildfire.
The House of Representatives in a press release on its official Twitter handle @HouseNGR described the report which was carried by a national newspaper as rather unfortunate.
According to the tweet, “It has come to the attention of the House that a newspaper report on Friday, March 27, 2020, had insinuated that the Green Chamber is distributing official vehicles for the 360 members of the House at this critical moment that the country is battling to contain #Covid-19 pandemic
“This story is rather unfortunate at this time that Nigeria and Nigerians are striving hard to address the pandemic that has forced the Federal Government, and even the various states’ governments, to take drastic measures.
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It stated that not only has the National Assembly been closed since Tuesday the 24th of March in the wake of the pandemic, most lawmakers are in their constituencies.
“As a House, we are not unmindful of the mood of the nation, we are committed to ensuring the country stands united in these trying times
“It is out of that commitment that the House on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, introduced and passed the Emergency Economic Stimulus Bill, 2020. It is on record that the leadership of the National Assembly on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, about 24 hours after adjournment engaged some top government officials in the Executive arm and approved the release of N6.5BN for the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), N10BN for Lagos state, as part of efforts to address the issue of Covid-19 pandemic.
“Despite adjourning for two weeks to curb the spread of the virus, the House had expressed its readiness to reconvene at any time to consider measures aimed at addressing the situation, including a review of the 2020 Appropriation Act, if need be.
“We are committed, as lawmakers, to join hands with the Executive arm to take measures aimed at containing the pandemic and providing succour to Nigerians as a result of the economic shock necessitated by Covid-19 all over the world.
“We, therefore, urge Nigerians to disregard the newspaper report on the vehicles’ distribution as it is mischief taken too far. Just yesterday, the same paper on its back page, claimed that the house “closed shop and went on holiday” three weeks ago, a clear falsehood
“We only shut down three days ago not three weeks ago as falsely and mischievously reported. The paper chose to ignore all the house did within this time. A special session on addressing the high number of out of school children, intervening in the strike action by FCT health workers, etc.
