House Of Representatives 'Reportedly' Chokes From Bankole’s Indebtedness To Banks

Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal

Members of the House of Representatives are complaining about the financial shortfall at the lower chamber of the National Assembly as a result of the financial scam that rocked the leadership of Hon. Dimeji Bankole at the twilight of his tenure as Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives.

Findings revealed that the new leadership of the House of Representatives headed by Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, due to the present cash-strapped situation inaugurates chairmen and members of 89 standing committees together on the floor in one day against its long-standing tradition.

Source at the lower house in Abuja disclosed that “The House’s near bankruptcy and inability to foot the bill of 89 committees at separate inaugurations which could gulp about 40 million naira million has led to the inauguration, as it can no longer settle bills.

It was also discovered that the House is also undergoing serious contentions with banks over series of loans allegedly obtained from banks by the former Speaker Dimeji Bankole just as the House is yet to defray the controversial N10 billion loan it secured from the bank during the sixth Assembly. The banks have now resorted to embarrassing debt recovery since they have been placed under pressure to recapitalize by the Central Bank.

Sources reveal that the House is in a “terrible financial state” occasioned by excesses of the immediate past leadership of the House, some of whom are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). “Our accounts are in the red and everybody knows, so there is no pretence about it,” a lawmaker berated.