Kenneth Udeh, Abuja

Senator representing Imo West, Senator Rochas Okorocha has advocated the reduction in the number of senators representing various states at the National Assembly, especially at the Senate.

Okorocha a former governor of Imo State elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) , made this known during Thursday’s plenary session.

He made the comments during his contribution to the Medium Term Expenditure Framework And Fiscal Strategy Paper submitted by the joint committee on finance and national planning.

He stressed that if the plan was implemented, it would help to reduce the cost of governance in the country, stating that it would further help the country maintain fiscal discipline.



He said: “This country must begin to make sacrifices; our country provides that we have three Senators, but what are the three Senators per state doing that one single senator from that state cannot do? With over 300 representatives from the states, each of them creates increased demands from the economic system.

“What we need to have under the present ugly economic situation is have a statutory representative one per state to reduce the cost of governance.

“Secondly, we need to fund the productive sector of our economy. Government is business. Our Senate must not operate our budget from an accountant’s perspective but an economic perspective

The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, in his reaction, advised Sen. Okorocha to formulate a constitution-amendment bill to back up his contribution.

He said: “Your contribution can be translated into a bill; if you want a state to have only one senator, your contribution requires a constitutional amendment.

“You have the opportunity to present a bill to seek for the amendment of the relevant sections of the constitution that provides for three senators per state.
https://www.sunnewsonline.com/to-cut-cost-of-governance-okorocha-advocates-one-senator-per-state/

better

That makes sense he can give up his position

Supported

If you're furious as i am about billions spent on these senators gather here

North no go ever agree.

The north would never allow anything that will change the status quo, instead to them let Nigeria remain stagnant than for it to change

First time okrocha dey make sense

For the first time I agree with an Igbo APC politician.

I never knew this man had sense until today!...

Never going to work.

We will end up in a situation where a particular ethnic group perpetually dominates others within the state, in a similar fashion they do governorship. This would simply birth another round of political upheavals to add to all that we are already contending with.

These legislators know the truth but they keep skirting around it: Simply cut back on your salaries and allowances if you are sincerely looking for a way to cut back on your expenditure. This is alot more practical and pragmatic than what is being proposed here which would even require a constitutional ammendment!

The Senator would be as Powerful as a Governor right ?

Okorocha is a thief...


If anything needs to be scrapped, it should be the Senate.
They are of no use.

Very reasonable. 1 Senator per state with a maximum of two terms with 4 HOR members too.

Hope his fellow senators wld nt support him self

And who will be representing the whole of Imo??

Hmmm...a saving idea from a waster.

Ok

it is okay

Nice suggestion from an unpatriotic leader

Ok you have collected your certificate of return.
If a bad man crosses a bridge, he would wish for it to collapse.

I think this is the best approach and it should as well be on part-time basis.

The is the best suggestion/speech from Okorocha in the recent time.

kudo!!

People like you can't make Nigeria progress

slimderek:
The Senator would be as Powerful as a Governor right ?

Lawan asking for it presented as constitution amendment bill, was where he fail because the delay such formulation would bring.

Northerners are not support of constitution amendment.

Nigeria senate is not ready for anything beneficial to the masses. period!

If such bill is presented, don't be surprised if it is killed and buried even before arrival. Do you think these people are actually there because of the masses? In fact, this type of democracy is just a wasteful democracy. Even the single senator that he proposed should only get sitting allowance, and that is even if he or she is present when national issues are being discussed. In spite of having 3 senators from each state, how have their numbers affected Nigeria positively? Some don't even make any contribution to national issues apart from 'i' and "nil".

That makes sense. So as to hold someone accountable for any mismanagement

So dat d Senator go b3gin drag state with d governor abi

mumu. The first time you're making sense in your life. save any suggestions you have for Biafra not zoo.

Very Easy for mono-ethnic states. How will multi-ethnic states handle it?

What we need to do is re-examine and reformulate a development driven constitution, different from the current sham of a constitution which our citizens had no hand in its formulation and adoption.