NASS principal officers’ privileges should be removed — Sen. Ndume

Senate Majority Leader, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, has called for the removal of privileges accorded principal officers of the National Assembly.

Senator Ndume, who disclosed this in an interactive session with newsmen in Maiduguri, said if the privileges were removed, it would make the office less attractive.

According to him, the Senate president is just one among equals, and as soon as principal officers lose their offices, they lose all the privileges.

While disputing that there was crisis in the Senate, Ndume said: “It is just the coming together of like minds, based on interest.”

Ndume insisted that with the emergence of the new principal officers in the senate, they had put all their differences aside to ensure justice and good legislative procedures.

The senate leader said Nigerians would witness a rapid legislative transformation.

Senator Ndume said the senate was changing from what he called “Analogue legislation to digital era”, where the business of the senate would be communicated to each senator a day before any plenary to enable senators prepare at least a day before the sitting.

He said Nigerians should hold them accountable for whatever went wrong in the country, as President Muhammadu Buhari was ready to tackle the issues of corruption, security and unemployment, which were the bane of development of the country.

On the demise of Borno State Deputy Governor, Late Alhaji Zannah Umar Mustapha, Senator Ndume said he was yet to recover from the shock, saying they were together at his Abuja lodge some few hours before his demise.

He described the Late deputy governor as a committed, dedicate, intelligent and hard working gentleman, whose vacuum would be difficult to fill.

He, therefore, prayed Allah to grant soul of the deceased eternal rest and the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.