The Senate of the association called Nigeria is becoming more of a liability than a useful tool in governance. In my own opinion the House of Representative should be made to be more proactive judging by the fact that they have more representation of the populace. We need to rewrite our own constitution to reflect this. Masses have the power to enforce what they want. As they say "where there's a will there's a way"

Fool

Should d Senate be scrapped?




Ask Buhari

kia kia with immediate effect and alacrity

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER

two yrs suspension......
or a more easier way for the masses to recall their lawakers

Yes..and the elders should be employed

It should not be a question of if anymore it should be when and how are we scrapping it.

They allot billions to themselves from national-purse, a good number of them still collecting fat pensions, they spend more time on recess than doing anything positive, they see opportunity to serve as "juicy" and "non-juicy", inspite of public outcries they still allocated 2 billion/Senator project in 2016 budget.

As constituted now our Assembly is a House of waste and machinations. Many good people have been canvassing a one house system with transparent and acceptable finances.

2014 National conference has a better answer. Buhari should implement the recommendations of the conference.

Scrapping the Senate will deliver small states like Bayelsa with legs and hands bound into the hand's of large ones like Lagos, Kano, Jigawa. Be careful of what you wish for.

There's a good reason for bicameral house, we can start by reducing number of senators to two per state

Ovamboland:
Scrappinng the Senate will deliver small states like Bayelsa with legs and hands bound into the hand's of large ones like Lagos, Kano, Jigawa. Be careful of what you wish for.
There's a good reason for bicameral house, we can start by reducing number of senators to two per state

I do not think most of us campaigning for "scrapping"of senate are using the word literally. Many of us will perhaps have no issue with the Assembly (as constituted now) if their annual budget is like N10 billion naira and not N120/N150 billion naira. These people have also illegally appropriated N2billion to each ranked Senator and N400 million to non-ranked Senators.

These people are just 469 in number out of over 180 million people! Why should their budget be more than States' budgets? They currently have more money than several states in the country. Osun state with about 3.5 million people received N6 million allocation in the last exercise.

If only these people had been service-driven and empathetic we could as well maintain this number with N10 billion naira.

Should be scrapped totally

Senate cannot and will not be scrapped. As it stands, the senate has equal number of representatives from each state of the federation. if any of the chambers should be scrapped, it would be the House of representatives where the number of representatives are skewed to favour some states/sections of the country. my thought though.

DonLala1:
The Senate of the association called Nigeria is becoming more of a liability than a useful tool in governance. In my own opinion the House of Representative should be made to be more proactive judging by the fact that they have more representation of the populace. We need to rewrite our own constitution to reflect this. Masses have the power to enforce what they want. As they say "where there's a will there's a way"

not only NASS but presidency As well.
both institution r wasters, ineffective n they r filled with greedy thieves.

make we run a system of govt that recognises everyn nigerian as the president.

The question now should be what to replace the legislative body with; we have seen enough to know that we would never move forward with them in place as law-makers for Nigeria. It`s easy to elect a good President, but we would never have good law-makers. The Presidency proposes while the Parliament disposes. In other words, democracy is structured in a way that makes the legislature superior to the executive. I would repeat that once the constitution tells a group of people that they are superior to the President, it puts the system in jeopardy, especially in Africa. So our thoughts should be on what to put together to serve as appropriate checks and balances on the Presidency. What we call legislature today, is not fit for purpose!

Ghandi12:


I do not think most of us campaigning for "scrapping"of senate are using the word literally. Many of us will perhaps have no issue with the Assembly (as constituted now) if their annual budget is like N10 billion naira and not N120/N150 billion naira. These people have also illegally appropriated N2billion to each ranked Senator and N400 million to non-ranked Senators.

These people are just 469 in number out of over 180 million people! Why should their budget be more than States' budgets? They currently have more money than several states in the country. Osun state with about 3.5 million people received N6 million allocation in the last exercise.

If only these people had been service-driven and empathetic we could as well maintain this number with N10 billion naira.

scrapping a part of the legislature due to lack of relevance and reducing cost of maintenance are two different things.
I completely agree the cost of maintenance is humongous but that does not necessarily negate the importance of a bicameral house in a country consisting of unequal units. It addressed the anomaly of the first Republic where one region was bigger or equal to three others.

We can begin by say reducing senators per state to two or one and reduce representative from 360 to 180.
There could be a review of the functions such that they sit on part time basis, redefine their functions and determine what is reasonable to spend on it.

Yess' oh.

Yes. It should be scrapped. That way, the number of people stealing our money will reduce.

Yes ooo! Without further delay or consultation.

Ovamboland:

scrapping a part of the legislature due to lack of relevance and reducing cost of maintenance are two different things.

As constituted today, is the HoR still relevant to our development? As constituted today, is the Senate still relevant to our development? I believe these are the first questions that need our honest answers.

Cost of course is a strong factor in making our decision. When we inaugurated 469-member 4th Assembly 1999 we had a very buoyant economy with our population estimated as around 120 million. All States were well-funded from the center.

But today our economy is receding, our population is now put at 180 million. Some experts have alleged 24 out of 36 States are currently insolvent and the near future is still looking bleak. But the Assembly has pegged their annual budget at N150 billion/annum - they do not care what happens to the States.

Ovamboland:

I completely agree the cost of maintenance is humongous but that does not necessarily negate the importance of a bicameral house in a country consisting of unequal units. It addressed the anomaly of the first Republic where one region was bigger or equal to three others...

Sir, the maintenance cost is no more possible nor defendable! I agree with you the Assembly we have now since 1999 has hardly been criticized for hegemony of a unit over others. With only 1 PDP state out of 19 northern states one would have thought PMB would have it easy-prissy with the 8th Assembly but he has not.
But there has been too much emphasis on financial benefits for lawmakers than service. We now quote people saying they want to go to Senate to rest/retire; some committees are "juicy" some are not; ministers have 4 suvs why cant they have 1 v8,.

Most talks from Senate today have nothing to do with the people they were primarily elected to serve.
What is wrong with a Senator earning N12 million/annum? Statistics have shown they earn more than Obama, Merkel.

With a cumulative N1 million/month take-home for every lawmaker the country we only expend 12 x 469 = N5.628 billion/annum on lawmakers take-home annually. Their annual budget should not be more than N10 billion, especially in this difficult time.

Anyone who cannot take this "small" take-home should resign and allow people with passion for service come on board.

Ovamboland:

There could be a review of the functions such that they sit on part time basis, redefine their functions and determine what is reasonable to spend on it.

Another good option. But the most difficult question is who will legally or constitutionally start this process?

infact democracy it self should be scrapped

I think it should be. The Local government Chairmen are the most atomic form of representation we have in Nigeria. They should assume the role of the senate. Meet once a week. They are not entitled to any extra pay besides their salaries. The LG chairmen should assume the responsibilities of the senate

How would you save yourself from a dictator if the senate is scrapped? Some questions are irrelevant

enlightenedmind:
I think it should be. The Local government Chairmen are the most atomic form of representation we have in Nigeria. They should assume the role of the senate. Meet once a week. They are not entitled to any extra pay besides their salaries. The LG chairmen should assume the responsibilities of the senate

This is another logical suggestion but the problem remains we already have an Assembly in place. Who has the legitimate powers to start this discussion and implement the change?

Pidggin:
How would you save yourself from a dictator if the senate is scrapped? Some questions are irrelevant

With available evidences since 1999 this question has become more than relevant. Are you suggesting people with N18,000/month wage should continue tolerating N200 million lawmakers so they can save us from some dictator.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/08/nigerian-lawmakers-are-the-highest-paid-in-the-world/

...
A senator in Nigeria earns 240 million naira (about 1.7 million US dollars) in salaries and allowances and a member of the House of Representatives earns 204 million naira (about 1.45million US dollars) per annum. It definitely rubs insult to injury for the average Civil servant who earns about 46 to 120 US dollars per month...

Ghandi12:


This is another logical suggestion but the problem remains we already have an Assembly in place. Who has the legitimate powers to start this discussion and implement the change?



With available evidences since 1999 this question has become more than relevant. Are you suggesting people with N18,000/month wage should continue tolerating N200 million lawmakers so they can save us from some dictator.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/08/nigerian-lawmakers-are-the-highest-paid-in-the-world/

To scrap one senate member, over 50% OF his/her constituents have to recall them. So each constituent will have to hold a people election as to if to recall ther representative.
OR
We can pass a bill for it to be scrapped and literally stand over their heads with cutlasses in NASS forcing them to pass it immediately