Prince Bola Ajibola, Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has said that legislators especially in the National Assembly, should be made to serve on a part-time basis.
Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola, on Sunday, June 28, said elected legislators especially in the National Assembly, should be made to serve on a part-time basis, if the Federal Government plans to cut high cost of governance.
Ajibola who was also a judge at the World Court in Hague, lamented that the cost of running the National Assembly and maintaining the federal lawmakers, if not cut as a matter of urgency, would spell doom for the country, with its economy already comatose.
Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of a Ramadan Lecture, organised by the Islamic Mission for Africa (IMA), at the IMA Research Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun state capital, he lamented that the emolument of federal legislators as well as the cost of running government bureaucracy is higher than what is spent on developing national infrastructure.
Ajibola stressed that the lawmakers should serve on part-time basis, thereby making the positions less attractive. In that way, he continued, only people with sincere and patriotic mindsets to serve the country would offer themselves for election into the National Assembly.
“You see, the reduction of cost of running the Senate from N150 billion to N120 billion as stated by the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki to me, is cosmetic and farce.
"We must really reduce the cost of governance to the barest minimum if we are serious about moving the nation forward. Our economy is seriously ill and with time, it will not be able to support this reckless government spending," he added.