Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yusuf Lasun, said on Tuesday that he would not resign, having duly passed through an election to occupy the position.
He spoke in Abuja amid speculations that he had come under pressure from some forces in the All Progressives Congress in the South-West, asking him to step down for former Minority Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, to take over the seat.
But, Lasun, who was accosted by journalists at the National Assembly as he stepped out of a committee room, reacted, “That is a speculation; why will I resign?
“I went through an election on the mandate of the Speaker (Mr. Yakubu Dogara).”
It will be recalled that Lasun, who is from the South-West State of Osun, had defeated his rival, Mr. Mohammed Monguno, from Borno State, to become the deputy speaker on June 9.
Lasun polled 203 votes as against Monguno’s 153.
The eventual winner of the speakership slot, Mr. Yakubu Dogara from Bauchi State, had also beaten Gbajabiamila by 182 votes to 174.
All the lawmakers are members of the All Progressives Congress.
However, there were speculation that a few days after the election, Lasun came under pressure to quit.
A delegation of lawmakers from the zone reportedly met with him to raise the issue.
One National Assembly official, who was privy to the alleged discussions, stated, “Members, mostly from the South-West, took part in the discussions. They were sent to meet Lasun to explain to him why it was necessary for him to step down for Gbajabiamila.
“The point was made that the zone needed a stronger person to represent the South-West in the leadership.”
But, on Tuesday, Lasun told reporters that there was no way he would resign, having been elected by his colleagues to be their deputy speaker.
The deputy speaker spoke soon after he inaugurated a 37-member AdHoc Committee on Welfare set up by Dogara to source car loans for members and equip their offices.
The committee is also to allocate offices to all 360 members and process the payment of their entitlements, including accommodation, to enable them settle down for work.
About 233 of the 360 members were elected for the first time and currently have no accommodation in Abuja.
A senior management staff member had disclosed to The PUNCH on Monday that lawmakers were usually paid 300 per cent of their salary up front to procure cars, furniture for their homes and accommodation.
The official added, ” A senator earns about N2m basic salary per month while the basic monthly salary of a member of the House of Representatives is about N1.8m.
“What the management usually does is to deduct upfront, 300 per cent as housing allowance, 300 per cent as vehicle allowance and 250 per cent as furniture allowance.”
The official noted that when calculated, each senator would earn about N16.5m while a member of the House of Representatives would collect about N14.5m.
“A senator, for instance, will collect N6m as accommodation allowance; N6m as vehicle allowance; and N4.5m as furniture allowance,” he explained further.
But, Lasun also seized the opportunity to defend the N150billion the National Assembly had spent as its budget since 2010.
The budget was only reduced to N120bn in the 2015 Appropriation Act.
Lasun argued that, contrary to the views held outside the legislature that it was spending too much, the National Assembly spent less than 3 per cent of the total budget of the Federal Government.
He stated that the legislature was a separate arm of government with its own peculiarities.

http://www.punchng.com/news/i-wont-resign-lasun/

Just In-case

APC should let this go na! .

Btw.. The poster above me sha..

Okkkk

The defeat of Gbajabiamila is very traumatic for APC. Make una sorry, that was the feeling 4 years ago, when you sabotaged PDP rep from Oyo state.

What is wrong with these APC people? Why can't they just accept that an election has happened and it's time to move on.

[size=13pt] Sai Lasun....the slayer of Gbajamila n thief-nubu[/size]