A former member of the House of Representatives, Bade Falade, has lamented the rising emergence of former governors as lawmakers, saying most of them end up becoming liabilities to the National Assembly and to their constituents.
Falade who represented Ede, Ejigbo, and Egbedore Federal Constituency of Osun State in the green chamber expressed worry that the National Assembly is gradually turning into a dumping ground for politicians who finished governing their states.
The former member of the 6th National Assembly made this known while fielding questions from journalists in Osogbo at a programme tagged: “The Frontliners” and organised by the League of Veteran Journalists Osun State.
He said members of the National Assembly can only bring about good legislative turnover that will positively impact the lives of the people if the incessant change of legislators all in the name of rotation is jetisioned.
According to him, legislative function is an act that needs to be learnt for years in order to contribute meaningfully to issues in the hallowed chamber.
The former lawmaker frowned at some state governors who regard the National Assembly as a retirement home from politics after their tenure saying many of them end up becoming liabilities because they are greenhorns in law making business.
Meanwhile, Falade has called on Nigerians to focus less on the monthly emoluments and luxury cars of the lawmakers but rather appreciate the enormity of their oversight function particularly the blocking of financial leakages which in the end will allow all the citizens to enjoy the dividends of democracy to the fullest.
Acknowledging economic hardship plaguing Nigerians, he, nevertheless, advised them to be patient, persevere, understand and repose confidence in President Bola Tinubu’s administration that there is going to be a light at the end of the tunnel.
He said President Tinubu inherited a lopsided system in which a few groups of people are getting fat at the expense of the masses, adding that the current administration at the centre is the best thing to happen in Nigeria for the upward transformation of socio-economic issues.
On the feud between former governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola and his successor, Gboyega Oyetola, he stated that all major stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress in Osun State are on top of the situation in such a way that the ruling People’s Democratic Party in the state will be jolted before the 2026 governorship election in Osun.
The former lawmaker condemned in its entirety the method of election at the local government saying a situation where the ruling class clear all available positions through political shenanigan will not augur well for the third tier of government in the country, bearing in mind that it is the closest to those at the grassroots.
Falade, therefore, advocated for the independence of the state electoral commissions.
The APC chieftain equally opined that another cause of stunted growth being experienced in Nigeria could be attributed to the abandonment of uncompleted projects by successive administrations forgetting that government is a continuum.
Earlier in his remarks, the chairman of the occasion, Sunday Ojo Williams stated that one of the reasons Nigerian politicians take pleasure in jumping from one party to the other is because there are no political ideologies.
