Nigeria Senate Should be Scrapped to Reduce Cost of Governance, Ondo Governor Akeredolu Says

Rotimi Akeredolu, Governor of Nigeria’s southwestern Ondo state is calling for a unicameral legislature for the country and the immediate scrapping of the senate.

The country’s legislature is currently carrying out the process of amending the West African country’s 1999 Constitution.

According to Mr Akeredolu the lawmakers should only be engaged in legislative duties on a part time basis to reduce the cost of governance.

The Governor stated this in Akure, the Ondo state capital on Tuesday during the South-West Zonal Public Hearing on the constitution review.

He was represented by the state’s deputy governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

“The country may consider dropping the current bicameral structure of the National Assembly and adopt a unicameral legislature. The membership of the Assembly should be part-time. No member should earn allowances not known to the Revenue Mobilisation and Allocation Committee and, more importantly, people they claim to serve,” he said.

“Legislators should earn under a uniform salary structure. Allowance peculiarities must not be about obscenity. The Senate should be scrapped. The House of Representatives too should not be unwieldy. A maximum of four representatives should come from each zone.”

According the Governor, “the position of the Ondo State Government has been made public. We advocate for a Federal Government largely reduced in size and scope of engagement. We want to see a Constitution that will enhance the performance of public office holders at all levels.

“It is possible to have a government that will serve the people in deed and truth. The law of the land must aid this realistic expectation. We must reduce the cost of governance and shift attention to service delivery in this trying period.”

By Abel Ejikeme

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