Borno South Senator Ndume Proposes Quarterly National Assembly Sittings

Lawmaker representing Borno South Senatorial District, Senator Ali Ndume, has called for a drastic reduction in the frequency of National Assembly sittings, proposing that federal lawmakers sit only once every quarter to redirect funds towards tackling Nigeria’s worsening security challenges.

The lawmaker made the call on Thursday when he appeared on ‘Politics Today’ on Channels Television, according to Ndume, discretionary services can be shut down for their resources to fund security of the people.

“Honestly, urgently. We must discard everything as far as I’m concerned. And even if it is necessary to shut down some discretionary services, starting with the National Assembly,” Ndume said.

He explained that his proposal would see lawmakers convene only based on workload and be paid strictly for the period they are in session.

“You cut it off and ask us to sit maybe once quarterly, for example. We’ll sit for some time depending on the workload that we have and pay us accordingly,” he said.

Ndume noted that significant recurrent and personnel spending continues to run across government institutions, benefitting “less than 5% of Nigerians,” while consuming resources that should be channelled into securing the country.

“Why don’t you shut down all these things? Use the money to secure the people first, then you can hear this,” he added.

Clarifying his remarks, the senator emphasised that he was not advocating a complete shutdown of the legislature, but rather a temporary scaling back of activities to free up funds.

“I’m not saying that you should shut down the National Assembly. Let me be clear. Realistically, our house is on fire, and we need everything to put that fire out. So if that means that, look, National Assembly will have to reduce your activities so that we pay you less and then use the money to concentrate on security, I’m sure many of my colleagues will agree to that,” he said.

The lawmaker also urged the federal government to prioritise a model similar to what operates in the United States, where discretionary spending can be suspended during emergencies to protect essential operations.

Ndume argued that, with the President now declaring a security emergency, the next step should be issuing executive orders to halt or scale down non-essential services.

“He should take his pen and paper and draw some executive orders saying close this ministry, close the National Assembly or reduce the workload. This is the money that we are going to save, and then you use it to buy MRAPs, buy ammunition, train the security agencies, or even pay them,” he said.