BY the end of April 2020, over N571 million  would have been donated by the 360 members of the House of Representatives as relief fund to fight COVID-19.

The 360 members of the House of Representatives had donated their two months salary which started in March and ends in April according to the speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.

“Accordingly, I have directed the clerk to the National Assembly to see to it that all members’ salaries are transferred to the National Relief Fund for this month and the next,” Gbajabiamila said.

One month basic salary for each House of Representatives member is N794,086 and a total of 360  members salary for one month would be N285,870,960. This amount will total N571,741,920 in two months.

What N571m can buy to fight Covid-19

The amount can pay for 31 pieces of pulmonary ventilators at N9 million each and 397 standard hospital beds at N720,ooo each.

The donations by the lawmakers also can pay for is 4,764 pieces of infrared non-contact thermometer at N60,000 each, 190, 580 pieces of respiratory masks at a N1,500 each, 285, 870 pieces of antimicrobial hand sanitizers at N1,000 each and 63, 526 pieces of hand gloves at N4,500 each.

These listed items are needed urgently by health personnel and citizens in all 36 states of the Federation and the FCT to help fight this pandemic effectively in Nigeria.

According to Order paper, an online newspaper committed to reporting National Assembly, the prices of the items were researched as at March 31, 2020.

The ICIR earlier reported that the Ministry of Budget and National Planning went on twitter requesting for 100-500 ventilators from the South African billionaire and  CEO of Tesla,  Elon Musk to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

Also, recall that the private sector and individual monetary contributions to the account set up at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the auspices of the Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) have hit N15 billion.