Hon. Ibrahim Auyo, a member of the House of Representatives, has alleged that lawmakers are required to pay between ₦1 million and ₦3 million to present bills, motions, and petitions on the floor of the Green Chamber.
Auyo, who represents Hadejia/Auyo/Kafin Hausa Federal Constituency of Jigawa State under the All Progressives Congress (APC), made the claim during a meeting with his constituents.
In a video of the meeting, which has since gone viral, the lawmaker, speaking in Hausa, responded to criticism over his record of bill sponsorship.
He stated: “Since I was elected as a member in 2015, no individual has given me a bill to pass, either from Auyo, Hadejia, or Kafin Hausa. They are just pretending.
“And also, even the bills and petitions are paid for. You have to pay from ₦3 million, ₦2 million, or ₦1 million to present it.
“And after you present the bill, you must follow up by lobbying the whole 360 members of the House to accept the bill.”
Auyo said he was willing to receive proposals from his constituency provided they followed the proper process: “For the bills, I give each community the chance to present theirs. They should sit with their community leaders, write down their needs, and bring them to me in Auyo.
“Even if I am not in Auyo and I am in Abuja, they should delegate two or three people from the LGA to meet my team so we can confirm it is from the constituency and see if I can address it or not.
“We have done this before they started giving us such requests, so why can’t we do it now when they actually give them to us?
“I have my representatives—they should go through them. If they do so, I can first review it; if I can do it myself, I will. If it is a bill, I can also present it.”
The lawmaker also dismissed accusations that he had failed to help constituents secure jobs
“That is not true. Whoever says I didn’t help our youths is lying. Those I helped know themselves, and I can’t satisfy all.
“Even God that creates us [did not make us equal]. Look at your five fingers; they are not the same, so you can’t satisfy all.
“I do distribute my things [empowerment] myself, and 80 percent out of 100 percent is for youths, I swear to almighty Allah.
“My first motorcycle and car distribution was distributed to the youths. No single elderly person benefited. Just recently, during the governor’s empowerment in Auyo LGA, all the beneficiaries were youths.”
However, Auyo claimed some youths sold off the empowerment items they received
“You bought [an empowerment item] at ₦300,000; they sell it for ₦150,000 immediately after collecting it.”
The lawmaker urged constituents to work with him until the end of his current tenure in 2027 and cautioned against personal attacks on leaders:
“I urge people to work collectively as a team, to submit their requests to me or even through others. In fact, it is me now, and by God’s grace, until 2027, it will still be me.
“Insulting leaders for personal reasons is wrong. Some people, if not for politics, are too small to insult you.
“My advice to the youth is this: when you insult someone’s father today, tomorrow someone will insult your own father. When you insult someone, you are insulting your own father—even if he is in his grave.”
