Ali Ndume, the Senate Chief Whip has disclosed that all Senators in the Senate are entitled to N200 million for constituency projects, but he and 9 other of his colleagues got more than that.
Ndume, was responding to the claim by Agom Jarigbe Jarigbe, the Senator representing Cross River North, that N500 million was given to some senior Senators from the 2024 budget.
Ndume, speaking when he featured on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday, said, “All Senators have N200 million as constituency projects but I am a leader, that’s the difference. 10 of us are leaders including the ones in the opposition. They get more than the floor members, it’s normal.
“In those days that decision is taken by the Senators, but now the floor members entrusted that to the presiding officers. So most of the floor members don’t know what I get, but my colleagues no that I got more than the N200 million, its normal. We are not all the same, all animals are equal but some are more equal than the others”, Ndume added.
He argued that even in the United States, constituency projects are given discretionarily. “Right now, democrats have the majority, so they have more. In the Senate, we are very nice to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senators despite the fact they didn’t treat us the same”, he added.
