Ibrahim Auyo, a member of the House of Representatives, has alleged that lawmakers spend as much as N3 million to have their bills, motions, and petitions presented on the floor of the chamber.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker who represents Hadejia/Auyo/Kafin Hausa federal constituency in Jigawa spoke during a meeting with his constituents in the state.
In videos that have since gone viral, the lawmaker told his constituents, who criticised him for infrequently sponsoring bills and motions, that legislators pay between N1 million and N3 million to get their proposals passed.
Auyo spoke in Hausa language in the video.
“Since I was elected as a member in 2015, no individual has given me a bill to pass, either from Auyo, Hadejia, or Kafin Hausa. They are just pretending,” he said.
“And also, even the bills and petitions are paid for. You have to pay from N3 million, N2 million, or N1 million to present it.
“And after you present the bill, you must follow up by lobbying the whole 360 members of the house to accept the bill.”
The lawmaker also dismissed claims that he has not assisted constituents in securing employment.
“That is not true. Whoever says I didn’t help our youth is lying.Those I helped know themselves, and I can’t satisfy all,” he said.
“Even God that creates us [did not make us equal]. Look at your five fingers; they are not the same, so you can’t satisfy all.
“I do distribute my things [empowerment] myself, and 80 percent out of 100 percent is for youths, I swear to almighty Allah.
“My first motorcycle and car distribution was distributed to the youths. No single elderly person benefited. Just recently, during the governor’s empowerment in Auyo LGA, all the beneficiaries were youths.”
He alleged that some youths sell off the empowerment items they were given.
“You bought [an empowerment item] at N300,000; they sell it for N150,000 immediately after collecting it,” he said.
The lawmaker said he is willing to accept bills from constituents committed to the process.
“For the bills, I give each community the chance to present theirs. They should sit with their community leaders, write down their needs, and bring them to me in Auyo,” he said.
“Even if I am not in Auyo and I am in Abuja, they should delegate two or three people from the LGA to meet my team so we can confirm it is from the constituency and see if I can address it or not.
“We have done this before they started giving us such requests, so why can’t we do it now when they actually give them to us?
“I have my representatives—they should go through them. If they do so, I can first review it; if I can do it myself, I will. If it is a bill, I can also present it.
“I urge people to work collectively as a team, to submit their requests to me or even through others. In fact, it is me now, and by God’s grace, until 2027, it will still be me.
“Insulting leaders for personal reasons is wrong. Some people, if not for politics, are too small to insult you.
“My advice to the youth is this: when you insult someone’s father today, tomorrow someone will insult your own father. When you insult someone, you are insulting your own father—even if he is in his grave.”
When the newsmen reached out to the lawmaker, his mobile phone was unreachable, and text messages received no response.
Over the years, the national assembly has been embroiled in controversies from the secrecy surrounding lawmakers’ salaries and allowances to allegations of bribery.
