N1tn Spent on N’Assembly Members in The Last Eight Years

 A former Minister of Education, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili,  on Monday said Nigeria had spent over  N1tn on  the National Assembly members   in the last eight years.
Ezekwesili, in a keynote address delivered during one-day dialogue session on the ‘Cost of governance in Nigeria, “ added that  banks earned N699bn as interests last year  on loans secured by the government.
“Since 2005, the National Assembly members alone have been allocated N1tr,’’she said while also lamenting that “82 per cent of Nigeria’s budgetary cost goes for recurrent expenditure.” To buttress her claim that  much was being spent   servicing those in government, she said that   “ a research conducted in the United Kingdom identified Nigerian legislators as being the highest paid in the world.”
Punch reports that the National Assembly members were unhappy with her assessment and said  her claim amounted to blackmail.