By Vera Chinonso Aliyu, YeyeNews.com, October 3, 2021
• In reality they actually don’t care about the issues
Having failed to ensure critical appointments reflect the federal character provision and approving every loan request of the executive without any question, the senate leadership has complained bitterly during a closed door meeting that they “are tired of Nigerians” tagging them as rubber stamp on issues they actually do not care about.
“We should no longer accept this rubber stamp tag Nigerians have placed on us because in the final analysis, I really don’t care if Mr. President appoints only his village people into critical government parastatals or continue to borrow until all the revenue goes into debt services or whatever”, a source who spoke with YeyeNews.com quoted the senate president as saying during the meeting.
The senators in the meeting, mostly APC members, stressed that their lack of interest in effecting tough guidelines for approving these contentious executive requests does not make them a rubber stamp legislature, the source told YeyeNews.com.
“If these are issues they truly care about, they will fight tooth and nail to make it right. They would even be willing to jeopardize the current lucrative relationship they have established with the executive. But for something like a loan, which we know part of it will definitely come back to them, or appointments, which we all know the intricacies involved, you expect them to fight? Its not possible”, the source added.
Another senator told our reporter that none of these contentious issues affect their interests adversely, neither as individuals nor as a body. “Yes, our constituents voted us into the senate. Unfortunately that is where it all ends. From here on, we protect our own interests. So long as those interests are satisfied everyone is happy. Nobody will stir the hornets nest on behalf of any disgruntled constituent. Besides, we need to amass enough wealth to buy our way back here in the next election. We paid them during campaign. We bought them. What do they expect now?”
