Drama unfolded in the Senate Wednesday as the North-East nominee for appointment to the Governing Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission [NCC], Aliyu Saidu Abubakar, called for the immediate scrapping of the upper chamber
Abubakar made the call during the screening of the presidential nominees for the Governing Board of NCC, by the Senator Gilbert Nnaji-led committee on Communications.
A member of the committee had confronted the nominee asking why he once led a protest for the scrapping of the Senate.
The member told the nominee that he was appearing before the same Senate he wanted scrapped.
Abubakar in his response insisted that the cost of running the senate was high and therefore should be scrapped.
The nominee noted that a situation where the senators had been receiving huge transport, ward robe and dressing allowances and others was a clear economic loss to the country.
He also listed the purchase expensive vehicles for Senators as another reason why the upper chamber should done away with.
The committee presented several photographs of the nominee leading organised protests against the Senate particularly at the gate of the National Assembly recently.
The apparent unrepentant Abubakar told the committee that he has no regret for his actions.
He insisted that he was still convinced that “the Senate is an avenue for wastage of scarce economic resources of the country.”
The Senate, he said, “must go”
Speaking after the session, Abubakar, told reporters that the Senate should be scrapped.
The Bauchi State nominee however denied telling the committee that the Senate must be scrapped.
He said, “It is not true that I told members of the committee that the Senate should be scrapped.
“They asked me whether I was part of the group that agitated for the scrapping of the Senate and I said yes because of so many things involved in the Senate and their budget.
“They asked me to state the reasons why we were agitating for the scrapping of the Senate, I said it is because of their huge budget; they (Senators) consume a lot of resources from the government; they put it in their own budget.
“Also, they have transport allowance and, yet, they budget a lot of money to acquire vehicles.”
He said that the committee confronted him with several photographs of him during the ‘Occupy National Assembly’ protests, including the ones held at the National Assembly and in Bauchi State which he did not deny.
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