Aliyu Abubakar, Nominated By President Muhamadu Buhari For The Position Of National Commissioner Of The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Has Insisted That A Bicameral Legislature Was Not Necessary In Nigeria, Therefore, The Senate Should Be Scrapped.

Abubakar, who was nominated to represent the North East region on the NCC board, made the remarks during his screening by the Senators committee on communications on Wednesday

The Bauchi State nominee was part of the protesters, some months ago, who said they wanted a unicameral legislature, scrapping of the Senate and removal of Bukola Saraki as Senate President in view of his corruption trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

When one of the committee members confronted him to explain why he led the protests, Abubakar, rather than back down on his position, reiterated it and gave reasons why the senate should be scrapped.

“Senators receive huge transport, wardrobe and dressing allowances and they purchase expensive cars from public purse, an economic loss to the country,” Abubakar said.

“The Senate is an avenue for wastage of scarce economic resources of the country… Senate must go,”

After the screening exercise, Abubakar, however, tried to tone down on his comments.

He said: “It is not true that I told members of the committee that the Senate should be scrapped.

“They asked me whether I was part of the group that agitated for the scrapping of the Senate and I said yes because of so many things involved in the Senate and their budget.

“They asked me to state the reasons why we were agitating for the scrapping of the Senate, I said it is because of their huge budget; they consume a lot of resources from the government; they put it in their own budget.

“Also, they have transport allowance and, yet, they budget a lot of money to acquire vehicles.”

Earlier, during the screening session, the Senate committee said it noted some “irregularities” in the personal and academic records of Abubakar.

Abubakar had submitted his birth certificate as well as an affidavit and police extract with the same date, claiming loss of credentials.

The committee pointed out that the fact that the dates on the documents were after Abubakar had been nominated by the President, suggests they may have been “procured”.

Also, Abubakar’s highest academic qualification is a “Diploma in Computer” from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University with a statement of result dated September 23, 2016 – again a date after his nomination.

He was then asked to explain why he submitted documents received after he had been nominated and if he’s suitable for the NCC job with his academic background in view of the expertise required.

Abubakar said he “did not bother to go for the credentials having been self-employed prior to the nomination,” adding that he “only went to school merely for knowledge.”