Speaker of the House of Representative, Femi Gbajabiamila has said he will not sign the nation’s 2021 budget if it excludes compensation for the families of victims of police brutality in the last decade.
The speaker, who made this known in his opening speech at the plenary session today, insisted that he budget must include the demand of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
ASUU had embarked on a-six-month industrial strike action over a proposed mode of payment to be adopted in paying the withheld teachers’ salary.
Gbajabiamila, weighing in on the ongoing #EndSARS protest reasoned that the protest seemed to have been hijacked by those with ulterior motives.
He said, “Today we are witnessing in Nigeria, a call for a rethink in our nationhood. As we sit here in this hollow chamber a new independent movement is drawing our nation.
‘’The generation of young people who came of age in the year of democracy, have looked upon what we have built and decided that we can do better. We will do well to aid this call and what it can do for Nigeria.
‘’Let us take this opportunity of this movement to do the hard thing, make the right choices and pursue objectives that drive progress to put in good steps for generations to come.
‘’As the Speaker of this House of Representative, let me say this for the record to reflect, I will not sign up for the 2021 budget that does not include adequate provision to compensate who had suffered violence and brutality in the hands of police in Nigeria in the last decades
‘’I will not sign up for the budgets that do not reach the reasonable demands of ASUU to which the government has already acceded. There is no better time to rethink the system of funding for higher education in Nigeria.
‘’The current system does a great disservice to our children and the country and we must commit to changing it so that we can see our institution of learning as a citadel of excellent.” he continued.
Recall that the 2021 budget was passed through second reading last week Wednesday, and committees of the House are yet to begin the budget defense process.
