Senate Spokesman Yemi Adaramodu on Friday said Nigeria’s democracy would be jeopardised if lawmakers in the two legislative arms transit from full-time to part-time.

Recall that on June 12, the former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, advocated for a part-time legislature with reduced emoluments.

“If the parliament is on part-time, then it means democracy is on part-time,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme. “There is no democracy that derides its parliament and thrives.”

He argued that the parliament is the bastion and fulcrum of democracy, and no level of cost-cutting should affect the allocations that go to lawmakers.

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The All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker representing Ekiti South Senatorial District said beyond law-making and oversight functions on the executive, the 109 Senators in the Senate and the 360 members of the House of Representatives shoulder the responsibilities of their constituents.

He said, “The Nigerian parliament is not only for lawmaking; we do an oversight function. We advocate for our constituents.

“It will just be bewildering that even out of the three arms of government that we have in Nigeria, it is only the parliament and parliamentarians that our people have access to. Like me and others.

“We go home almost every time, and we are the ones when they give birth to a new baby, they ask for naming ceremony funds. When they are building a new house, it is from us they ask for assistance.

“So, if the parliament was not there, who do you expect that our constituents would run to? The parliament is not just to sit down at the plenary and make laws alone. And when we make laws, we follow it up.”

The Senate spokesman said the National Assembly is the soft target of every critic but vehemently opposed the reduction of the money paid to lawmakers.

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“If we are on part-time, can’t the same amount of money be paid to part-time legislators?” he asked.

“We are in Abuja, is it the National Assembly that is giving us housing? Is it the National Assembly that is employing domestic staff for us? We are here on our own.

“We don’t get allowances for drivers. The allowances we get from housing are always deducted from our salaries. They give it once in four years, and they deduct it every month.”

He also said the official vehicles lawmakers get weren’t registered in their names and weren’t for them. He, however, did not clarify whether lawmakers inherit the vehicles after their tenure.

In the past, controversy has enveloped the monthly earnings of federal lawmakers. In August 2024, Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th Senate, said he got ₦13 million as Senator while current members of the 10th Senate receive ₦21 million monthly. The upper chamber of the National Assembly immediately disproved the claim.