Orji Uzor Kalu, the Senator representing Abia North senator district has claimed that the N14 million he earned as total package as a lawmaker is not enough to take care of his needs.
Kalu, who is a former governor of Abia State said the N14 million is not enough for him to buy petrol to visit his constituency and to also maintain the constituency office among other things.
The Senator said this while dismissing claims that lawmakers in the National Asembly are living a life of affluence while most Nigerians are battling hunger as a result of the economic policies of the present administration when he appeared on a Channels Television programme on Thursday.
However, Kalu said the N14 million he earned monthly was meant to take care of the salaries of workers in his constituency, his overhead costs among others.
Kalu also dismissed claims that National Assembly members are given luxury cars as official vehicles.
The Abia State Senator said in the interview that only the various committees in the national assembly are given vehicles.
“I am in the Senate and a lot of things are said about the Senators and I sit there quietly and watch, and most of these things are not true.
All I know is that committees get vehicles, no lawmaker is given any vehicle,” the Senator said.
The Senator also defended the Tinubu’s administration against the economic hardship in the country.
According to Kalu, the present economic crunch is not peculiar to Nigeria as the impact of COVID-19 is still affecting economies globally.
The Senator however noted that other countries are no longer feeling the COVID-19 impact the way Nigeria is feeling it is because they have built a robust economy for a very long period.
Kalu also said contrary to the view of some critics, President Bola Tinubu is aware of the problems afflicting Nigeria’s economy and he is taking steps to address them.
“The president himself knows that Nigerians are suffering and hungry. He is a street person; he knows the street very well.
“The president some nights uses his car to go around and know what is happening in Abuja here,” he said.