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.