By Andy Asemota
Senate President and Chairman of the National Assembly, Ahmed Lawan, has decried the N128bn budgetary allocation to the National Assembly in the 2021 budget as an insignificant fraction which translates to less than one percent of over N13 trillion budgeted by federal government for 2021.
Lawan, who spoke at a two day retreat for top management staff of the National Assembly organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) in collaboration with Legislative Advocacy Centre (PLAC) urged Nigerians to focus on the essence of National Assembly in Nigerian Democracy.
His words: “What percentage is that? This is just one percent. So where is the remaining 99%? Instead of trying to see how about 128 billion naira would be utilized by NASS Assembly system; what will be the output from the national assembly; how useful are the outputs to the Nigerian public workers? We would always argue for the cut of funding to the National Assembly claiming it is too much.”
He said such a critical analysis of NASS will enable Nigerians to identify the value for money derivable from the Nigerian legislature both at the federal and subnational levels.
The Senate President warned that those campaigning for the scrapping of the Red Chamber were ignorant of the implications of their quest because abolition of the senate will enthrone tyranny of the majority in the legislature.
”The Senate is a leveler because in the House of Representatives population is the major consideration and that’s why some states would have five to six members in the House and others would have more than 20. So, if you seek the closure of the Senate. You can be sure that there will be a day when you will cry foul of the tyranny of the majority.”
“When it comes to the Senate, what Kano State produces is what Bayelsa produces. Three senators from Kano and three senators from Bayelsa. That gives everyone the advantage and the opportunity to be represented fully and equally in the Senate, so that stabilizes the system.
“If you pass 1000 bills in the House and the Senate does not concur, definitely, that will be the end of that bill. Hat tells you that, that representation in the Senate that provides equality of state is to work to ensure that everybody in the Senate is not neglected but well represented and protected,” Lawan said.
He cautioned that if people don’t like the set of members of the National Assembly in the 9th National Assembly they should change all the law makers in 2023 but Nigerians should help support the system to function and guarantee their your protection.
