Nigerian Senator Proposes Part-Time Legislature, Says Lawmakers’ Salaries Not Enough

Abia North senator Orji Kalu said part-time law-making will help cut the cost of governance in the country.

Abia North Senator Orji Kalu has proposed an amendment to the constitution to reduce federal and state lawmakers’ plenary to four times a year.

Mr Kalu, a former governor of Abia State, made the proposal in a viral video shared on his verified Facebook page on Sunday.

One of Mr Kalu’s aides, Kenneth Udeh, confirmed the post’s authenticity to our reporter.

In the video, Mr Kalu, chairman of the Senate Committee on Privatisation, said the amendment would be part of the measures to reduce the cost of governance.

“I think it will be a very good idea if my colleagues and other members of the houses of assembly will agree that we can sit for three months and do constitutional amendment first from 2027 to sit three months.

“In three months, we sit for two weeks or three weeks, so we sit four times a year, and if there is any emergency, there will be emergency sitting, we can come to do a presidential bid on that basis and go back instead of sitting on a full-time basis.

“Not only the Senate and the House of Representatives. I am talking about other houses of assembly in Nigeria. All the legislature houses of Nigeria will be part-time. This will be part of the measures to reduce costs, or we will go for a regional government. If we are going for regional government,” he said.

The former governor urged President Bola Tinubu and other members of the National Assembly to develop legislation that will legalise the part-time legislature system in the country.

“If we are going for a regional government, it also means that the ministers and the legislators will be the same because I have been tinkering with the idea of how we can save money to run Nigeria because Nigeria needs money.

“I will encourage the President, the National Assembly to make these kinds of laws. This will help him, and this will help the system, and this will help everybody,” he added.

Mr Kalu, who was convicted of stealing public funds as governor but had his conviction cancelled for technical reasons by the Supreme Court, also urged his colleagues to amend the constitution immediately.

“I want Nigerians and my colleagues to do a quick constitutional amendment so we can go and be a part-time sitting Senate and part-time sitting House of Representatives and other 36 state houses of assembly in Nigeria. That will bring trust and relief to the Nigerian people,” Mr Kalu added.We’re being paid almost nothing in the Senate

Mr Kalu also said senators should be paid a competitive salary.

He specifically said he and his colleagues at the upper chamber are “paid almost nothing” as salaries.

“We are being paid almost nothing in the Senate. I sit in the Senate, and when people discuss the salary of a senator and other people, I laugh because it’s nothing to write home about,” Mr Kalu said.

Mr Kanu’s claim that senators are underpaid contradicts the reality of most Nigerians. While senators monthly take home salary is less than a million naira, in a country where the minimum wage has just been increased to N70,000, each senator also gets about N13.5 million monthly as office running cost, thus making them some of the highest paid lawmakers in the world.

Part-time lawmakers more accountable – CD

The President Campaign for Democracy (CD), Ifeanyi Odili, agreed that the Nigerian legislative system should be a part-time sitting to reduce the cost of governance.

“In view of present economic challenges, I think Senator Orji Kalu is not missing the mark as he suggests that National Assembly business should be part-time work and not full-time.

“It is the same position Campaign for Democracy CD holds. This is coming at a time we need it mostly. If we must be sincere with ourselves, National Assembly business is better a part-time and not full time that has crippled our nation’s wealth, with virtually no serious business there, rather than going there to share our nation’s cake,” he said

Mr Odili noted that part-time legislature would be more effective in the development of the country than full-time.

He also submitted that part-time lawmakers would be more accountable to their constituents if legalised.