Politics

Aisha Yesufu urges FG to Scrap Senate

Published

5 months ago

June 10, 2024

Civil rights activist, Aisha Yesufu, has called on the government to scrap Nigerian Senate to reduce the cost of governance.

The co-founder of Bring Back Our Girls Movement, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday, June 9, in Lagos.

She stated that Nigeria should drop its bicameral legislature and adopt a unicameral legislature to reduce the cost of governance.

A unicameral legislature is a system with one chamber or house, as opposed to a bicameral legislature which has two chambers(Senate and House of Representatives).

Some countries with unicameral legislatures include China, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Portugal.

According to Yesufu, until something is done about the cost of running government and corruption, Nigerians will not feel the dividends of democracy.

She said, “We need to really and critically examine our democracy and look at what fits us and serve the ordinary people and the masses. The one that will not be too expensive.

“What we have now is too expensive. We need to cut costs and not just continue what we have that has not been working for Nigerians.

“I totally support the call for us to have a unicameral legislature. It is very important because the kind of governance that we are practising is very expensive.

“As a country, we really don’t have that kind of money. Apart from this, the fact is that both the Senate and House of Representatives end up duplicating functions in terms of what they do,” Yesufu said.

She said the Senate had been turned into “a retirement home for a lot of incompetent and failed governors who didn’t do anywhere well for the people in their state..

“It (Senate) is a joke ground; we cannot say what the Senate does is in a really sense different from what the House of Representatives do.

“They (Senators) do nothing special and at the end of the day, they are paid humongous amounts of our money and such huge allowances for doing nothing different.

“We found out that a good number of them, especially those that are former governors, while they get this humongous salary, as well collecting pension from their respective states.

“There is no way democracy can work for the masses with this kind of waste of public funds that could have been directed to put happiness to the face of the common man.”

According to her, Senegal is practising a unicameral legislature, after abolishing Senate for the second time in September 2012.

She said, “The House of Representatives is capable of taking care of the law making aspect of the nation, oversights and other things that the legislative arm of government does.

“Unicameral legislature should be adopted in Nigeria because bicameralism is too expensive apart from the fact that it slows down business of lawmaking.

“It is not working for us, we don’t have the kind of money to run it and maintain this, especially at a time the masses are suffering.

“Having a single legislative arm will pay us better in terms of reduction of cost of governance,” she said.

Yesufu decried that Nigeria had not in real sense been practising true federal system of government.

Speaking further, the activist said the country could also adopt the parliamentary system of government to also reduce cost to governance.

She said that Nigeria could not longer sustain the current presidential system of government.

“This will also pay us in terms of reduction of the cost of governance because whoever is leading the country is the one that is the first among equal.

“Ministers in this system are selected from members of the parliament that are elected.

“So, that reduces the cost of governance drastically and better than what we have now where separate people are brought in as ministers,” she said.

“We can have a parliamentary system of government, we shall be reducing cost of governance drastically well.

“The Prime Minister would not be this powerful and exercise control over everything, including the appointed ministers, because ministers are also members of the parliament,” she added.

Politics

Obi Urges Nigerian Graduates to Seek Opportunities Overseas if Needed, Vows to Fix Nigeria for Their Return

Published

6 days ago

November 12, 2024

Naijablitznews

Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in Nigeria’s 2023 election, has encouraged Nigerian students to seek better opportunities abroad if local conditions don’t meet their needs.

Obi shared this advice during his visit to Anambra State, where he made donations to Peter University in Achina/Onneh and the College of Nursing Sciences in Adazi-Nnukwu. Addressing nursing students, he reaffirmed his commitment to supporting institutions that nurture skills, professionalism, and character.

Obi advised students that, if career opportunities are limited locally, they should feel free to explore options abroad.

“If things aren’t working here, go where they will work for you,” he said, expressing optimism that, with efforts to improve the country, Nigerians working abroad would eventually return.

Speaking at Peter University, Obi urged students to dedicate themselves to their studies, highlighting education as a transformative force essential for national development.

Emphasizing that investment in education is an investment in the future, he encouraged them to aim for excellence, assuring that a stronger Nigeria would await them.

Politics

Parliamentary system better option for Nigeria -Aregbesola

Published

7 days ago

November 11, 2024

Gloria Ikibah

By Gloria Ikibah.

Former governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, has called for Nigeria to dump the presidential system of government and return to the parliamentary system.

Aregbesola made this revelation at a National Dialogue on Home-Grown Parliamentary System in Abuja on Monday.

The immediate past Minister of Interior, who said he is opposed to the executive system of government currently practiced in Nigeria, insisted that the arrangement in the parliamentary system is best suited for a country like Nigeria.

“If you go on believing that an individual, no matter how beautiful, no matter how good, could have the capacity to govern 120 million people all alone without checks, we are joking. So, by that consideration alone, I am opposed to executive system of government.

“I believe the collective arrangement which the parliamentary system guarantees is best for a nation like Nigeria if indeed we are committed to advancing the interest of the large population and mass of our people,” Aregbesola said.

In February this year, a group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives brought a bill seeking amendments to the 1999 Constitution to transit from the current presidential system to the parliamentary system of government.

According to the group made up of about 60 lawmakers, the transition has become necessary to reduce the cost of government in the face of dwindling revenue.

Titled, ‘The Bills Proposing Constitutional Alterations For a Transition To Parliamentary System of Government,’ the bill was sponsored by the House Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, and 59 others.

The bill was read on the floor of the House during plenary session in Abuja on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.

In a statement, a Spokesman for the Parliamentary Bill Sponsors, Abdussamad Dasuki said, “Today, we stand on the cusp of history, as lawmakers across party affiliations and regional backgrounds come together to present bills proposing Constitutional Alterations that seek a transition to Parliamentary System of Government.

He added that over the years, the imperfections of the Presidential System of Government have become glaring to all, despite several alterations to the constitution to address the shortcomings of a system that has denied the nation the opportunity of attaining its full potentials.

Politics

2027: Kwankwaso’s visit to Otti sparks possible alliance

Published

1 week ago

November 11, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Governor Alex Otti of Abia State at the weekend played host to the former presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, at his Nvosi country home in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area(LGA).

Speaker of the House of Assembly Emmanuel Emeruwa, some aides of the governor, and members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement were present.

Although Kwankwaso said he was in the state to condole with Otti on the passing of Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, the first governor of old Abia State, rumours of a possible political alliance between him and Otti, the only Labour Party(LP) governor in the country, spread.

Onu was buried in Uburu, his hometown in Ohaozara LGA of Ebonyi State on Friday.

Kwankwaso’s visit coincided with a reception held by the governor for 15 Abia indigenes who recently graduated from the Nigeria Police Academy in Kano.

Shortly after he departed the state, political analysts said they were sure that the visit was partly informed by efforts of the Peter Obi-led LP faction to align with other opposition parties ahead of 2027.

‘’Don’t forget that 2027 is near. Do you think the two men would meet like they did now with talking about the next presidential election? That is impossible,’’ one of them told The Nation.

Another said Kwankwaso and Otti were ‘’very much aware that the only way to oust President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progress Congress (APC) from the centre is a formidable alliance.

‘’They know that now is the best time to start talking about how to defeat those in Aso Rock. And that, I believe is the core reason for the visit.”

Last month’s local government poll in the state produced a stunning result with candidates loyal to Otti winning nearly all the chairmanship positions on the platform of the Zenith Labour Party(ZLP)

The governor backed the winners because of court cases on the authentic leadership of the leadership of the LP.

One faction of the party is led by Julius Abure while the other supported by Obi and Otti is headed by Nenadi Usman, a former Finance minister.

Political analysts argued that if Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Obi, and Kwankwaso fail to put their political differences behind and field an acceptable presidential candidate in 2027, they might end up not making a significant impact.

Otti had while welcoming Kwankwaso recalled how he offered him a ‘’platform in May 2022 to run ’’ as a governorship candidate.

He thanked Kwankwaso for his guidance and patriotism.

His words: “Thank you for your guidance, for your patriotism, for everything that you have done for this country.

“I want to thank you for encouraging me in 2022 not to lose faith, though we were in different parties, and it appeared as if everything was going to be lost.

“That call that you made about the 20th of May 2022, for also making your platform available for me to run if I had wanted to use the platform, the rest is now history.”

Kwankwaso, a former Kano State governor, congratulated Otti on his emergence as governor. He also lauded his achievements in the state

“For the little time I have been here, I have had the opportunity of talking to a few people who confirmed to me that you are doing very well. We have seen your project everywhere” he said.

The governor and his visitor urged the new Police officers to work hard, contribute to the security of the country, and be good ambassadors of the state.

“The challenge is for you to now work very hard, knowing fully well that in this society, the son of a nobody can be the father of somebody,” said Otti.

“If people like us who grew up here without any hope at that time can be here, there is no reason why you can’t get here. But I am challenging you to be the best you can be.

“Always do things right and do the right things. You can always get to where you are headed. Cutting corners does not take you too far, “ the governor added.

Kwankwaso charged the new police officers to be professional in the discharge of their duties.

“Let me take this opportunity, based on my experience, to advise you to first and foremost fear God.

“Two, you need to be professionals. Now you are fresh, just coming out of the prestigious institute.stay there as professionals,” he said.