Senate President Ahmad Lawan has challenged those critical of the National Assembly to a debate on the relevance of the Legislature to Nigerians rather than criticising the funding of the Assembly.

Mr. Lawan gave the challenge in Abuja on Friday, while declaring open a two-day retreat for top management staff of the National Assembly and National Assembly Service Commission.

“What does the National Assembly mean to Nigerians what does the legislature mean to Nigerians,” he said. “We need to understand what the National Assembly or what the Legislature is to Nigerians.”

Mr. Lawan called for a proper debate on what the functions of the National Assembly and Indeed the Legislature should be rather than talking about the jumbo pay.

“Where is the jumbo pay? we should be looking for value for money,” he asked. “Without this National Assembly or the legislature across the country, what we have is no democracy anymore.

“So, the value of the National Assembly or the legislature to Nigeria is democracy.

“We always debate on jumbo pay instead of what should be the functions and hold us responsible for what we are able to do and for what we are not able to do,” Mr. Lawan advised.

The Senate President said that the National Assembly is allocated less than one percent of the National Budget yearly.

“So, where is the remaining 99 percent?

If you don’t like the set of members in the Ninth National Assembly, change all of us in 2023.

“Get better people but help support the system to function because that is your protection,” Lawan said.

NAN