Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole, Speaker, House of Representatives, said he refused to take any chieftaincy or honorary awards while in office to avoid distraction from performing his function to the people of Nigeria.

Bankole said this while receiving a delegation of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) under the leadership of Mr Fatai Jimoh in Abuja who conferred on him the national patron of the association.

He said that groups, institutions and traditional rulers had offered him one title or the other but he refused to take any of them as a matter of principle while in office.

“When I am no longer the speaker, if they want to offer me any chieftaincy title, honourary degrees or any special awards, I will consider it then,” he said.

Bankole, who gladly accepted the offer of the National Patron of the association, said that the parliamentarians needed no special commendation for doing their job of lawmaking, over sighting and appropriation.

He said that Nigeria would be a better place for everybody if all stakeholders did what was expected of them without any form of prompting to do what was right.

The Speaker assured the group of necessary support that would enable them perform their duties effectively as Parliamentary staff in the country.

Earlier, Jimoh said the group came to thank the Speaker and the leadership of the National Assembly for passing into law the consolidated parliamentary legislative salary, the first of its kind.

Jimoh said the association, which has branches all over 36 states of the country, had decided to honour Bankole with an award of national patron of the association.

He said members of PASAN promised to give the lawmakers necessary support geared toward realisation of their set objectives of good governance in the country.

Jimoh implored the Speaker to assist in facilitating both local and foreign training to parliamentary staff aimed at building their capacity for effective legislative performance.

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