Why bi-cameral legislature should be maintained — Senate President
Senate President Ahmad Lawan on Monday made a case for Nigeria to maintain a bi-cameral legislature consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives as presently constituted.
Lawan’s remark came on the heels of agitation for the scrapping of one of the chambers of the parliament to reduce cost of governance in the country.
He said the adoption of a bicameral legislature was intended to address the country’s diversity and ethnic composition to ensure justice, equity and fairness for all Nigerians irrespective of whether they are from minority or majority ethnic groups.
The Senate president gave his position on the bi-cameral legislature at the third University of Benin/ National Institute for legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) convocation ceremony, held at the National Assembly, Abuja.
He said, “Nigeria has consciously adopted a bi-cameral National Assembly. It is because of who and what we are. The diversity of Nigeria and ethnic composition of the country require that we have a system that provides justice, equity and fair play. It is a conscious decision and design to ensure that everybody is represented in the country. We need bi-cameral legislature in Nigeria.”
Lawan explained that the quality of governance in Nigeria can only be improved by ensuring productivity on the part of lawmakers as against demanding for a uni-cameral legislature.
“What we should insist on is productivity. Members of the National Assembly must justify the expenditure on us. That is what we should be concerned with. We must be productive and we are on the way there. We are on the way to proving that we are going to be productive,” he added.
Lawan recalled that only last week, the Senate passed an amendment to the Production Sharing Contracts Act of 1993, a development which would earn Nigeria $1.7 billion annually.
This, according to him, was part of efforts by the National Assembly to shore-up Nigeria’s revenue as well as improve on the country’s economy in the overall interest of Nigerians.
“Before the passage of that Act, which should have been done in 2003, up till date Nigeria gets only $216m from the PSC,” he said.
He expressed hope that the House of Representatives will concur when it resumes plenary after which it would be forwarded to the President for his assent.
“Nigeria, from next year will get $1.7 billion. That is to say we are conscious of who we are representing. We will represent Nigeria truthfully and patriotically.
“All hands must be on deck to ensure that we take 10 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years. This requires that we work with the same passion and commitment,” Lawan said.