Bamidele Salam, a member of the House of Representatives, has opposed the plan to lavish N37 billion on the renovation of the National Assembly, saying the complex does not need any renovation more than the classrooms, roads, hospitals that are in bad state across the country.
Salam, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who represents Ede federal constituency, said this on Sunday in a Facebook post, proposing that the money should rather be channeled towards creating more jobs and giving out interest- free loans to small scale businesses.
President Muhammadu Buhari had sparked outrage across the country when he approved N37bn for the renovation of the National Assembly complex.
But Salam said he would advocate a change of the policy when the house of representatives resumes in January, adding that it is never too late to change a wrong policy.
He said, “I am a member of the National Assembly but I sincerely do not think we need a 37 billion Naira renovation of that edifice, ” he said.
“Apart from the Chambers of the NASS which need some upgrade in the audio and recording system, the entire structure needs no renovation more than our classrooms, hospitals and roads which are mostly in a decrepit condition.
“As an advocate of an aggressive microcredit strategy for job creation, I would rather want to see 370,000 small businesses get 100k interest free loan within 12 months rather than have 1 edifice swallow that sum within the same period.
“If we mop up all funds voted for renovations of the presidential villa and other offices of political leaders and top civil servants, we will raise more than a quarter of a trillion Naira that can be injected into SMES in the coming year.”
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