Cost of governance: Aisha Yesufu wants Senate scrapped

A renowned governmental and civilian rights activist, Aisha Yesufu has called for the scrapping of Nigerian Senate to trim outgo of governance.

Yesufu, Co-founder of Bring Back Our Girls Movement, made the telephone successful an interrogation with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) connected Sunday successful Lagos.

She was reacting to calls successful immoderate quarters that the state should jettison bicameral legislature(two-chamber National Assembly) and follow unicameral legislature to trim outgo of governance.

NAN reports that unicameral legislature is simply a strategy with 1 enclosure oregon house, arsenic opposed to bicameral legislature which has 2 chambers(Senate and House of Representatives).

Some countries with unicameral legislatures include:- China (National People’s Congress) Sweden (Riksdag) Norway (Storting) Denmark (Folketing)and Portugal (Assembly of the Republic).

The activistic said could, alternatively, see re-introduction of the parliamentary strategy of authorities to trim the dense funds spent connected the National Assembly.

According to her, until thing is done astir the outgo of moving authorities and corruption, Nigerians volition not consciousness the dividends of democracy.

“We request to truly and critically analyse our ideology and look astatine what fits america and service the mean radical and the masses. The 1 that volition not beryllium excessively expensive.

“What we person present is excessively expensive. We request to chopped costs and not conscionable proceed what we person that has not been moving for Nigerians.

“I enactment the telephone for america to person a unicameral legislature and scrapping of Senate, it is precise important due to the fact that the benignant of governance that we are practising is precise expensive.

“As a country, we truly don’t person that benignant of money. Apart from this, the information is that some Senate and House of Representatives extremity up duplicating functions successful presumption of what they do,” Yesufu said.

She said the Senate had been turned into ” a status location for a batch of incompetent and failed governors who didn’t bash anyplace good for the radical successful their state.”

She said that Nigerians had continued to carnivore the brunt of the resources annually allocated to these governmental ‘retirees’ successful the Senate.

Yesufu added: “It (Senate) is simply a gag ground, we cannot accidental what Senate does is successful a existent consciousness antithetic from what the House of Representatives do.

“They (Senators) bash thing peculiar and astatine the extremity of the day, they are paid humongous amounts of our wealth and specified immense allowances for doing thing different.

“We recovered retired that a bully fig of them, particularly those that are erstwhile governors, portion they get this humongous salary, are arsenic good collecting pension from their respective states.

“There is nary mode ideology tin enactment for the masses with this benignant of discarded of nationalist funds that could person been directed to enactment happiness to the look of the communal man.”

According to her, Senegal is practising a unicameral legislature, aft abolishing Senate for the 2nd clip successful September 2012.

She said: “The House of Representatives is capable for it to beryllium capable to instrumentality attraction of the law-making facet of the nation, oversights, and different things that the legislative limb of authorities does.

“Unicameral legislature should beryllium adopted successful Nigeria due to the fact that bicameralism is excessively costly isolated from the information that it slows down concern of lawmaking.

“It is not moving for us, we don’t person the benignant of wealth to tally it and support this, particularly astatine a clip the masses are suffering.

“Having a azygous legislative limb volition wage america amended successful presumption of simplification of outgo of governance,” she said.

Yesufu decried that Nigeria had not successful a existent consciousness been practising existent national strategy of government.

Speaking further, the activistic said the state could besides follow the parliamentary strategy of authorities to besides trim cost

She said that Nigeria could not longer prolong the existent statesmanlike strategy of government.

“This volition besides wage america successful presumption of simplification of the outgo of governance due to the fact that whoever is starring the state is the 1 that is the archetypal among equal.

“Ministers successful this strategy are selected from members of the parliament that are elected.

“So, that reduces the outgo of governance drastically and amended than what we person present wherever abstracted radical are brought successful arsenic ministers,” she said.