Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, representing Abia South in the National Assembly, has provided clarification regarding the allocation of funds for Zonal Intervention Projects included in the 2024 budget.
His statement comes in response to claims made by Senator Agom Jarigbe during Tuesday’s plenary session.
Contrary to Jarigbe’s assertion that lawmakers received a bulk sum of N500 million, Senator Abaribe disclosed that he personally received only N266 million from the funds allocated to lawmakers across the six geo-political zones.
He emphasized that the amount allocated to each lawmaker is contingent on the number of states within their respective zones.
Explaining the distribution further, Senator Abaribe noted that lawmakers from zones with a higher number of states, such as the Northwest with seven states, would naturally receive less than those from zones with fewer states. In the case of his Southeast zone, comprising five states, the allocation per lawmaker is adjusted accordingly.
He said, “I have been saying that all fingers are not equal and by privilege of office, certain people will get but not every Senator gets an equal amount.
“These are six zones in the country, and every zone gets its own N10 billion in intervention. Now, if you are from the Northwest zone, because you have seven states, the senator will get less than me who comes from the five-state zone.
“My state, Abia, gets N2 billion and if we break it down for both the Senate and the representatives, the Senate is getting 40% and the House gets 60%.
“I got about N266 million as zonal intervention. The person in the Northwest who has seven states, will necessarily get less, about a hundred million and something.”