‘Make NASS less attractive with sitting allowance’

Tunde Adeleye, bishop of Anglican Communion Diocese of Calabar, has advised that members of the National Assembly should be placed on sitting allowance and not salaries so as to make election- eering race to Abuja less attractive.

Adeleye, who spoke with BusinessDay in Calabar, on the state of the nation, opined that it was the huge remuneration allocated to the National Assem- bly members that was causing the do-or-die mentality of the Nigerian politicians.

“If Nigerians sat down and agreed to be paying National As- sembly members the amount they are getting, no problem, but did we or did we not? I’ve always thought that parlia- mentarians in Nigeria should not be placed on salaries. My recom- mendation is that they should be placed on allowances.

Efforts should be made to make that po- sition less attractive so that they would stop killing themselves.

“We are shouting ‘corruption, corruption,’ but how would cor- ruption stop when somebody spent millions of Naira in winning election and some even got loans from places. And you must know that he would strive to pay back that money by hook or crook. If you make that position less juicy, if National Assembly members are put on part time basis, you would have solved part of the challenge of corruption,” the cleric said.

On the predicted disintegra- tion of the country before the last general election, Adeleye commended former President Goodluck Jonathan for “display- ing un-Nigerian spirit by letting go power voluntarily.” “Jonathan will forever be re- membered.

Despite the drum of war, Jonathan made sure Nigeria did not disintegrate. It will not disintegrate,” he said.

He advised President Muham- madu Buhari to create impact first on areas of insecurity, and then tackle unemployment, electricity problems and health issues to give Nigerians hope of a better future.

According to him, “President Buhari may need to tackle many issues simultaneously because the situation the country finds itself now demands action. He should immediately arrest the problem of insecurity; tackle employment, electricity and health challenges.”

MIKE ABANG, Calabar