New Telegraph

Lawmaker faults agitation for unicameral legislature

 

*Says executive spends 98 percent of Nigeria’s annual budget

Babatope Okeowo, Akure

A lawmaker representing Akoko Northwest/Northeast federal constituency, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has faulted the proposal for the scrapping of the Senate or revert to a unicameral legislature in the country.
Tunji-Ojo said the clamour for a unicameral legislature was born out  of the paucity of funds to run an effective government in the country  and the perception that the legislature had no role to play in a democratic government.
Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, and many others, had during the public hearing on the review of the 1999 constitution advocated the scrapping of the Senate in order to conserve funds for other development projects in the country. But the lawmaker, who is the Chairman, House Committed on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), said both legislative and judicial arms of government spend just two percent of the annual national budget while the executive arm spend the rest 98 percent.
According to him, the total amount of money that comes to the National Assembly, which includes the National Assembly Service Commission, Public Complaint Commission, Institute of Legislative Study and lawmakers in the two chambers, is less than one percent of the N7 trillion annual budget. The total amount, according to him, is N135billion.
Tunji-Ojo said there is no need to canvas for the scrapping of the Senate if the citizens know the functions of the legislative arm of government and how they perform their oversight functions to check the excesses of the executive.

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