A former Senate Chief Whip, Victor Oyofo, has frowned against former governors going to the Senate after two terms in office.
He believes they go there to rest and enjoy their wealth rather than actively make laws.
Oyofo, who spoke in Abuja at the First Senator Ekpemoriri Lamai Memorial lecture, said;
“It has become obvious that politics is the quickest way to unearned wealth. The situation was exacerbated by a clause which allows governors to be immune from a closer examination.
“Many, for example, have treated their security votes which amounts to billions as pocket money. They also subsumed the local government councils and their allocations. Most of the governors, after they have given a heavy retirement pension for themselves, work their way to the National Assembly as senators where they enjoy their retirement in opulence.
“This trend is not unnoticed by the populace, even if they appear hopeless and speechless.”
Oyofo also decried insecurity, saying job creation will help tackle crime, saying;
“A change of direction is imperative. Infrastructure, where they exist at all, is decayed. Electricity is a no-go area, jobs are not available. Industries which existed before are decayed.
“What the senators must do now is to examine the country critically, and the Presidential system that we have adopted, without any cloud in their eyes.
“They must have the courage to chart a different course and restructure the country for productivity and continuation for joy and happiness and for a purposeful existence.”
The former Senate Chief Whip, who chaired the lecture, quoted #openNass, which stated that in 2017 alone, the lawmakers cost the taxpayers $54,000 each.
Delivering the lecture entitled; “X-raying the Nigerian Senate (1st-4th Republic) as a Tool for Nation Building,” Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), said the Nigerian Senate holds a crucial position as the upper chamber of the country’s bicameral legislature, actively shaping the nation’s political landscape and policy framework.
Executive Director of Senator E.A. Lamai Foundation, Chief Richard Lamai, added that the Senate and other legislative arms were critical to democracy.