Senator-elect Adams Oshiomhole says his focus in the Senate will not be on collecting allowances and rubber-stamping but on providing legislation that benefits Nigerians.

“We are not there for the allowance. There are a couple of things that can be done differently so that the renewed hope of our party can be translated into reality,” he stressed.

Mr Oshiomhole, representing the Edo North senatorial district, stated this while speaking with journalists at the presentation of the certificate of return to senators-elect in Abuja on Tuesday.

The former Edo governor and APC national chair said he had been the people’s voice as a textile union activist and NLC president.

“I will be part of the Senate that legislates for the good people of our countrymen, not for the powerful, by making sure that what we do in appropriation will be such that Nigerians get value for money,” Mr Oshimhole explained. “It is expected that the executive is powerful but does not have absolute power, so it will not be subject to legislative check.”

Mr Oshiomhole mentioned that President-elect Bola Tinubu would not “look forward to a rubber-stamp assembly but the one that can help to contribute to knowledge.”

The Edo ex-governor also said the 10th Senate would work for economic growth and robust GDP relying on power reforms, pointing out that the current problem “we face in the power sector was because it was meant to favour friends and relatives, who know nothing about power.”

He explained that “now we have to find the courage to deal with a system that makes citizens pay bills for power they did not consume, which for me is fraud.”

“Government must protect its citizens, and customers must be protected. Otherwise, all the energy spent to vote for a few guys to enjoy does not worth my while,” stated the senator-elect. “There are a couple of things we have to do differently.”

Mr Oshiomole said the 10th Senate would also look into the issue of petroleum products.

“We still see long queues, and each time I see the queues, I feel agitated because I fought against these obnoxious policies when I was the president of NLC. We must take radical action to ensure that the petrol we consume is refined in Nigeria,” he explained. “I will not go to the Senate to lament but make laws that would be enforced.”

(NAN)