‘Why lawmakers are dying’
Honourable Benjamin Kalu (APC-Abia) has submitted that pressure from constituents demanding solution for various needs might be killing lawmakers at the National Assembly.
Kalu made his submission speaking to newsmen after the House adjourned sitting to mourn Ossy Prestige (APGA-Abia), who passed away after a brief illness in Germany at the age of 56.
Between 2015 and 2019, over 12 lawmakers in both arms of the assembly died from various causes, while this year, the tally of body counts rose with the death of Prestige.
He said that members of the National Assembly were under pressure from constituents for various needs, blaming this for the deteriorating health conditions of many lawmakers.
Kalu maintained: “These guys here are suffering, they are under stress. That is why most of the sickness they are passing through is heart attack and failure of organs due to stress for their constituents.
That is the truth and the truth must be told, whether you want to understand it or not, let the Press know this that the pressure from constituents is killing members of the National Assembly.
That is the truth, the pressure is too much. People are receiving pressure from constituents on issues that is way out of the scope.
“Those who are not supposed to build roads are asked to build roads; those who are not supposed to build hospitals are asked to build hospitals.
And so, most members are under great pressure and some who do not know how to explain to their constituents, carry this pressure with them.
And the resources for them to meet this expectation of the public are not there. People do not want to hear this but I must tell you that members of the Parliament are under pressure.”
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He said members deployed their private resources to take care of the needs of constituents, stressing that, most people assumed the money came from the Federal Government.
However, Kalu said that despite the pressure, lawmakers would continue to do their jobs as parliamentarians as it was a national service.
He said that most Nigerians failed to understand the role of parliamentarians, assuring that the lawmakers would continue to educate the people on their roles.
Although the job of parliamentarians was not to build roads, hospitals and schools, they would continue to push for the good of their constituents, Kalu said.
