Banks use female marketers to woo senators, Reps-elect

Commercial banks have sent
marketers, mostly females after
newly-elected senators and
members of the House of
Representatives in Abuja to open
discussions on investments and
other business deals.
The energetic, sweet-talking and
mostly female marketers, flooded
the International Conference
Centre, venue of an ongoing
induction course for the new
arrivals on Monday.
Investigations by The PUNCH
showed that the target of the banks
largely was to woo the lawmakers
to open accounts with them.
Some of the smartly dressed
marketers also offered loan
opportunities they claimed their
banks could guarantee with
“friendly repayment terms.”
Over 290 members of the House for
example, are newcomers, out of
the total of 360.
In the Senate, about 69 senators are
also newcomers, out of 109.
Findings showed that the
marketers started tracing the
lawmakers since Sunday night
when Senate President, David Mark,
declared the induction programme
open at the Transcorps Hotel, Abuja.
“They flooded the Congress Hall of
the hotel Sunday night.
“They didn’t give the lawmakers
breathing space, as they offered all
sorts of facilities (loans) and
seeking to maintain their
accounts,” a senior legislative aide
confided in The PUNCH on Monday.
A member of the House earns
around N27.9m every quarter as
official allowance.
Presiding officers and other
principal officers receive higher
figures.
This excludes a monthly salary of
N1m.
Senators collect over N30m as
quarterly allowance and receive
higher salaries than their House
counterparts.
The PUNCH gathered that the
practice over time was for the
banks to compete among
themselves to attract as many of
the lawmakers as possible to
maintain the lawmakers’ accounts.
“In the end, many lawmakers get
loans in amounts ranging from
N50m to upward of N200m.
“They will be here for four years
and it is understandable that the
banks see this as a window for
quick returns,” one National
Assembly official told The PUNCH.
However, investigations indicated
that there were several cases of
lawmakers who failed to repay the
loans before the expiration of their
tenure, leading to disputes
between the two sides.
In 2011, a particular new generation
bank withheld the severance
packages of many members and
also seized their assets, owing to
failure to meet up with their loan
obligations.
One marketer, who gave her name
simply as Elina, told The PUNCH that
there was nothing wrong with
seeking for “investment
opportunities.”
She argued that being new in
Abuja, most of the members
needed information on sources of
funding to assist them in settling
down for the business of
legislation.
“We know how it is; there will be
accommodation challenges.
“Some need funding for
transportation even before they
get their official votes for vehicles
and other support services.
“So, the banks are there to provide
these support services by way of
funding,” she added.
The National Assembly and its
bureaucracy, including the National
Assembly Service Commission, has
a total budget of N120bn this year.
The figure was a drop from the
N150bn it had enjoyed since 2007.