Bankole Defends N52bn BTA

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole, has defended the whooping N52 billion reportedly committed to tours between 2007 and this year saying, “My foreign trips attracted to the Nigerian economy investments worth more than one billion dollars.”
Fielding questions from reporters at an interactive session at the National Assembly Chambers, Abuja, on Wednesday, Speaker Bankole argued that considering the value of foreign investments secured during such tours, the expenditure cannot be considered entirely wasteful.
He also rejected criticisms that about N43 billion was appropriated for use of the National Assembly under a sub-head, simply “miscellaneous’ to cover meals, refreshment and medical care among others, saying, “People should weight the cost of the House’s performance viz a viz the cost of running the House before making such comments. It is just a way of distracting the House which we will not allow to work.”
“$1 billion translates to N360 billion. Is it there or not?” he queried. “You need to weight the cost and the benefits and if you don’t know, ask, we are ready to provide an answer.
“You don’t have to wait until you have the whole press in the world before you ask. What you are looking for is the ones that would embarrass the House of Representatives, but we are not afraid,” the Speaker said.
Apart from the foreign investments, he also explained that such internal trips had led to the recovery of about N1 trillion from agencies of government that generate funds, but refused to remit it to government coffers in the past five years.
He explained that the sub-head in the budget of the National Assembly covered provisions for the House, the Senate and the Civil Service of the National Assembly, which shared for instance, legal services, and amounted to N1.96 billion between 2007 and 2009.
On the Freedom of Information Bill, the speaker assured that the bill would be passed, noting that it was at second reading before it was stood down just like any other bills.
He also promised that the Electoral Reform bills would be concluded early next year.