The legal luminary and founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, Chief Afe Babalola, has suggested that the National Assembly members should work on part-time basis.
Babalola made the suggestion in an interview with National Mirror in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, during the tour of his school farm with the members of Ewi-in-Council and principal officers of the university at the weekend.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, said running the National Assembly as full-time by members of the Senate and House of Representatives was not in the country's best interest.
He said the current situation was too expensive for a country like Nigeria facing many socio-economic problems.
The legal icon disclosed that there were many credible Nigerians ready to serve in the National Assembly on part-time basis and be collecting only sitting allowances.
This category of people, he said, would not need to be paid huge salaries and other fringe benefits as applicable to current lawmakers and the job required of them as legislators would still be carried out even more effectively.
The implication of this, according to him, is that the country will be able to divert the money meant to pay huge salaries and allowances for full-time lawmakers to grow the economy.
Also advocating the convocation of national constitutional conference to accommodate interests of all ethnic groups in the country, Babalola said cutting down expenses on political office holders, especially in the legislative arm, would help the country attend to issues that would impact more on the people
National Mirror