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| Sen Sandy Ojang Onoh |
22 July 2019
A cross section of Nigerians resident in and indigenous to Cross River State have reacted to the refusal to disclose the exact financial figures of ‘Senators welcome package’ by Sandy Ojang Onoh the lawmaker representing Cross River Central at the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The lawmaker on the 19th of July on the television programme of ChannelsTV, HardCopy was asked by the presenter to reveal the details of the financial package to the Senate. Sen. Onoh declined explaining that the amount was small contrary to widespread information. He referred the TV presenter to the information unit of the Senate. Watch video below :
The reaction saw Nigerians generally queuing behind the lawmaker. Some defended saying that the presenter went too far, others said he was not under any obligation to divulge the information, while others said he is a first timer and is likely to get into trouble with the Senate should he have given out the information.
According to Phylo Modlin Odu ‘Every reasonable person will do same.’
Wisdom Egom ‘..He is not the position of telling Nigerians that…’ Samuel Cassidy said ‘I wonder why the interviewer would even ask such question…. It wasnt necessary. Please Biko why would he tell Nigerians?’ Kennedy Nsan said ‘He’s not the spokesperson of the Senate, it is therefore not his place to speak for the Senate. He appeared on the program in his capacity as Sen. Sandy Onor.’ For Odemonke Ibiang, it is ‘I reserve the right to what information I dim necessary to share/disclose to the public especially when it’s personal i.e relationship, family and finances.’ Austin Ibok said ‘Some times you guys make this journalism not interesting,why do you ask him for his package? Why didn’t you ask him how much he has or borrowed while runing the elections knowing very well how expensive runing an elections in Nigeria could be?’ Nsan Egba said ‘The interviewer drift a little bit, every sane person will give same response as the Cartapillar did..’ George Odok Jnr said ‘I will do same’. Amb Mbeh Awunansere Etta said ‘… transparency is key in governance but not what public officers get as salaries especially in our today environment and society? No sir’.
However, Prince Charles Ekanem IV disagreed with all these. For him ‘No pay package is secret. Sandy would have answer that question. This is exactly why Nigeria can never grow.’
