My colleague couldn’t pay daughter’s school fees despite being a lawmaker - Rep

Chinedu Obika, a member of Nigeria's House of Representatives, has challenged the widespread public perception that National Assembly members are overpaid. He disclosed that a fellow lawmaker recently struggled to raise ₦700,000 for his daughter's school fees, an amount Obika personally helped him to cover.

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Now let me tell you something you don’t know. I can tell you that about two months ago, a colleague of mine could not pay ₦700,000 for his daughter’s school fees, and I was the one who helped him get that done; a member!

Obika, who represents the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency, shared this anecdote in an interview on KAA Truths. He argued that this incident demonstrates that not all lawmakers benefit from the "personal enrichment" often attributed to the National Assembly by the Nigerian public. "Now let me tell you something you don’t know. I can tell you that about two months ago, a colleague of mine could not pay ₦700,000 for his daughter’s school fees, and I was the one who helped him get that done; a member!" he stated.

The lawmaker suggested that members who remain silent in the House often do so not because they are being compensated, but because they lack substantial financial gains from their positions. He asserted that if members are not receiving significant benefits, they have no incentive to speak up. Obika did not name the colleague involved in the school fees incident.

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So if it’s about personal enrichment, that’s why members are not speaking. If you’re not getting anything, you’re not speaking.

He urged Nigerians to demand specific financial details rather than relying on unverified claims about lawmakers' earnings. "Every entitlement meant for a member is publicly available. If you haven’t found something specific, tell me, ‘Honourable, they said this is such-and-such amount’, and I’ll respond to it directly," Obika challenged. He implied that National Assembly members sometimes engage in disputes over benefits when they are available, contrasting this with the idea that silence indicates illicit gains.

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Every entitlement meant for a member is publicly available. If you haven’t found something specific, tell me, ‘Honourable, they said this is such-and-such amount’, and I’ll respond to it directly.