Chairman of the Senate Committee on Privatisation, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has backed calls for a part-time legislature at both federal and state levels.
Senator Kalu (APC – Abia North) said this move would help the nation reduce expenses and enhance public trust in the political system.
The former Abia governor shared his views in an interview published on his verified Facebook page over the weekend.
Regarding the calls for a part-time legislature, Senator Kalu stated, “I think it will be a very good idea if my colleagues and other members of the Houses of Assembly agree that we can sit for three months and do a constitutional amendment first.
“So we can sit four times a year, and if there’s any emergency, there will be emergency sittings. We can come to do a presidential bid on that basis and go back instead of sitting on a full-time basis.
“Not only the Senate and the House of Representatives, but all the legislative houses in Nigeria will be part-time.”
Senator Kalu argued that this would be part of austerity measures to reduce the cost of governance, suggesting that regional government is another viable alternative.
“If we’re going for regional government, it also means that the ministers, the legislators, will be the same. I’ve been thinking about how we can save money to run Nigeria because the country needs funds.
I will encourage the President and the National Assembly to make these kinds of laws. This will help him, and this will help the system, and this will help everybody,” he said.
The ex-governor also explained that contrary to misconceptions among Nigerians, senators are not paid excessively.
“But I want Nigerians and my colleagues to do a quick constitutional amendment so we can go and have a part-time sitting Senate and part-time sitting House of Representatives, and other 36 state houses of assembly in Nigeria.
“That will bring trust and relief to the Nigerian people,” the ex-governor said.
