Akeredolu calls for scrapping of Senate for doing nothing

Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu bared his mind on Tuesday and called for the scrapping of the Senate.

He equally asked that the current bicameral legislature being practised in Nigeria should be jettisoned for unicameral, adding that only four representatives should represent each zone at the National Assembly.

Speaking through his Deputy, Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, at the Southwest Zonal.Publoc Hearing organised by the House of Representatives Special Committee on Constitution Review, Rotimi who seems not to see anything good about the current bicameral structure insisted that zonal representatives was the way to go.

He called for part time lawmaking, adding that no representative should earn allowances that are alien to
the Revenue Mobilisation and Allocation Committee.

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.”

He added: “Nobody must be shut out; all must be treated equally. All decisions must be anchored on the principles of Equity and Justice.”

The governor noted that constitution review was an important assignment which must be undertaken with all seriousness.

Akeredolu also stated that revenue generation and allocation must reflect the extent to which a state participated in the economy.

“Ministries, departments and agencies must be pruned to reflect the socio-economic realities of the moment.

“The government at the centre must divest itself of this self-inflicted heavy burden, for effective and impactful performance,” he noted.

He later called for state police, resource control, judicial reforms, especially with zones having their court of appeals.

Akeredolu concluded by a return to the 1963 Republican Constitution, saying, “We will have resolved many fundamental issues of nationhood with the adoption.”

Earlier, the Chairman of the Southwest Zonal Public Hearing, Akure Centre, Mr Peter Akpatason, said the event was important to have input of the people.

Akpatason, who is a Deputy Leader in the House, said the constitution was made for the people and could not be done without adequate input from the society.

Also, Olubaka of Oka Akoko, Oba Yesufu Adeleye, called for special designated roles for traditional institutions in the country’s constitution.

The traditional ruler noted that the problem and challenges facing the country originated from the 1999 Constitution.

Senate had last week concluded its Constitutional Review public hearing while the House of Representatives started theirs this week.