Their behaviour should be condemned — Obasanjo fires another shot at n’assembly

Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo says 75 percent of Nigerians live in abject poverty but members of the national assembly have refused to cut down their earnings.

Obasanjo said this in Ibadan on Thursday while speaking at the presentation of a book entitled ‘I am Kagara: I Weave the Sands of Sahara’ authored by Mark Nwagwu, a retired professor of molecular biology.

The former president, who has always criticised the lawmakers for their large pay, said the character and behaviour of the national assembly should be condemned.

He said the country is not going to develop 90 percent of the nation’s revenue goes to the payment of salaries and nothing is left for capital expenditure.

“Ninety per cent of our revenue goes to pay overhead, allowances, salaries and not much is left for capital development. We are not going to develop this way and we will only have ourselves to blame,” Obasanjo said.

“It is even worse with the National Assembly, they are one of the highest paid legislatures in the world. We have 75 percent of our population living in abject poverty, yet these people have refused to cut down their earnings.

“We must speak out to get corrected when we err, the behaviour and character of the national assembly is one that should be condemned.”

Commenting on ASUU strike, Obasanjo urged the government to honour the agreement it entered into with the union.

“I have seen this in government; maybe it is a lesson government will learn. Government allowed itself to be stampeded into signing agreement without full consultation with those within the government,” the ex-president said.

“Then, they run into the implementation of that agreement that has been signed; however, an agreement is an agreement and whoever is your agent who signed the agreement on your behalf, you are bound by it.”

On her part, Oby Ezekwesili, a former minister of education, said the girl-child should be given opportunity to excel by giving her equal rights to education as her male counterpart.

“The greatest support a girl-child could have is that of a strong male who gives her a voice and is not afraid of her,” she said.