Some angry Nigerians on Tuesday sent a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari and demanded a referendum on whether the country should retain the present political arrangement having two chambers in the National Assembly.

According to them, the National Assembly as constituted at present has remained a burden and is confused as to its primary role of legislation.

The petition entitled, “PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI: DEMAND FOR A REFERENDUM ON WHETHER NIGERIA SHOULD RETAIN THE TWO HOUSES OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY”, was posted on the website of Change.org.

The petition reads: “Dear Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari...

“We have not seen nor spoken to any Nigerian who, in all honesty, wants the National Assembly as it is today, to stay. The common consensus is that the National Assembly as it is today, is a waste of tax-payers money. For example,

“Over 80 Billion Naira is spent servicing the lives and luxuries of 109 Nigerian Senators and their over 2,000 aides. Almost similar amount is spent on the 360 members of the House of Representatives and their retinue of Aides.

“No one can categorically say how much the National Assembly budgets each year as it's budget is the most secretive document in Nigeria.

– No Nigerian can say that they are satisfied with the way and manner Constituency Projects are not executed across the nation. The National Assembly as constituted today, is a burden that we are currently bearing to please the mistake of our constitution drafters who desired ‘vast’ representation from all parts of the country.

“In reality, this can be achieved with lesser number of people in the National Assembly as our experience show that we have never been consulted on any issues as the Law makers represent themselves and not us. The National Assembly as it’s constituted today, is confused as to its primary role of lawmaking.

“They have mistaken ‘Oversight Functions’ for harassing, intimidating and humiliating Public officers and Online Media Practitioners who refuse to dance to their tunes. The National Assembly has caused Nigeria several deadlocks in governance and passage of important legislation.

“It’s also known that whatever the Lower House passes, the Upper House confirms. So what's the use and need of having both of them? This has led to the wasting of the time and energy of Nigerians to pass legislation that ordinarily would take shorter time. – Politics and selfish-interests are placed above Nigerians, who sometimes have had to wait years to have IMPORTANT and LIFE-CHANGING legislation passed.”

OUR DEMANDS:

“Give us a referendum where we as Nigerians, can decide if:

1. We want to keep this National Assembly as it is now OR Not;

2. If not, which house should we keep?

[a.] the Senate OR

[b.] the House Of Representatives

“We appreciate that a REFERENDUM is an expensive demand particularly at this time of oil glut and economic malaise but it would be worth a huge savings if Nigerians vote to have just one House at the National Assembly.

“Our demand is in the interest of our nation. We want a streamlined, more efficient, cost effective, better focused National Assembly that will better serve the interests of all Nigerians. Please return power to the people of Nigeria by giving us a referendum.”

Details of the petition can be found on https://www.change.org/p/president-muhammadu-buhari-demand-a-referendum-on-whether-nigeria-should-retain-the-two-houses-of-national-assembly

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