Besides the N12m allowance scheduled to be paid to each delegate to the ongoing national conference by the Federal Government, some of the delegates have reportedly requested that their personal aides also be paid by the government.
Some of the delegates voiced out their concerns at the inaugural sitting on Tuesday, March 18, 2014.
Senator Mohammed Jibrin, a delegate from Jigawa State, asked the leadership of the conference to tell the delegates the number of aides each of them were expected to have.
“We need to know the number of aides we are to employ,” he demanded, speaking of drivers, personal assistants, and others.
Another delegate, a lady also asked the management of the conference who was going to be responsible for the welfare of their aides.
The allowance given each delegate would include money for accommodation, transportation, and part of feeding (the delegates are to have free lunch at the venue of the conference).
It was learnt that some delegates met in Abuja on Monday shortly after the inauguration of the conference by President Goodluck Jonathan where the welfare of their aides was discussed.
Some then argued that the organisers of the conference ought to inform them about the number of aides they were to employ and who would be responsible for their salaries.
Another delegate was said to have given an example of the members of the National Assembly whose aides he said, were being paid by the Federal Government.
“This does not affect the salaries and allowances of these lawmakers,” one of the delegates argued.
In her response at the inaugural meeting, the Conference Secretary, Mrs. Valeria Azinge, however said there was no provision for personal aides of the delegates.
She informed the delegates that the Federal Government had monetised their accommodation, transportation and sitting allowances.
“You will all receive your pay slips in two weeks intervals and we won’t disclose what is paid to you in the open. Each and every one of you is however free to divulge it, but that will not come from us,” Azinge said.
