National Assembly not a rubber stamp, says Sen. Bamidele

Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District, says the National Assembly (NASS) is not a rubber stamp contrary to insinuations by most Nigerians.

According to him, what we are not doing is grandstanding as it will not help the growth of our democracy.

Bamidele said this on Thursday shortly after a news conference held at the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Secretariat in Abuja.

“It is not going to take us any inch forward. It is only going to be a highway to nowhere.

“We have been through this path before and I don’t think any body benefitted from it.

“People accused the parliament for approving loan requests of Mr President. The question again then is, what did we do that people didn’t do in the United States, in the United Kingdom, all over Europe and other parts of Africa.”

Bamidele noted that the essence of the loan “is because our income as a nation has fallen to almost its lowest ebb.

“When we planned the 2020 budget, it was predicated on the fact that crude oil will sell at 54 dollars per barrel, and because of COVID-19, this did not happen.

“It fell to as low as 24 dollars per barrel, meaning that we were no longer in a place to fund our budget.

“Part of what economists will tell you is to ensure that money continue to percolate, and for government to do that, definitely they have to borrow.

“Could we have said because we don’t want to be labelled a rubber stamp parliament, we would not approve these loans?

“No, what is important to us is what are you going to do with these loans,” he said.