Members of the Kogi State House of Assembly said Wednesday that they were boycotting sittings in protest against the state government’s refusal to pay the backlogs of their salaries and allowances.
The House had adjourned plenary session two weeks ago and was expected to resume on Tuesday, but the scheduled session could not hold as many members were seen saying, “no money, no sitting.”
It was gathered that the members protested against the non-payment of their long overdue allowances.
One of the members who didn’t want his name in print confirmed that the House could not continue sitting without their allowances which the Governor promised to pay but failed to do so.
It was learnt that the state government only paid 75% of their constituency allowance in 2017 while they had not received any payment for 2018.
He said the Governor gave them assurance before the state received the last Paris Club refund but failed to pay them when the money was received.
The source confirmed that despite the plea of the Speaker for the members to attend plenary session, majority of them left the Assembly complex.
Most of them said the Speaker had been pleading with them since January and nothing happened. They vowed not to sit until the constituency allowance was paid in full, saying they needed the allowance to impact their constituency positively via constituency projects.
The House could not form the quorum needed to sit.
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