Abubakar Bukola Saraki is the current Senator representing Kwara central senatorial district in the National Assembly. He spoke on the emergence of the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, and other issues.

What is your mission in the newly inaugurated National Assembly after being a governor for eight years?

Nigerians are expecting a lot from lawmakers and even all other public office holders. As such, we all have to be responsible to address key issues that are important: looking after the interest of our constituencies, making laws that will make life better for Nigerian people, and, of course, ensuring our oversight functions.

I will continue to contribute to the development of my state and my country. I will ensure adequate representation of my constituency and of Nigeria's interest.

What would be your contribution towards ensuring the enforcement of the minimum wage for Nigerian workers?

On the issue of minimum wage, I did say that it would be a challenge for most states government to pay if we do not review the revenue allocation.

There is no governor that would not want to pay the minimum wage but there had to be the means and ability to pay. We have to review the revenue allocation, we have to provide more money for the state to ensure that apart from minimum wage, there are other responsibilities the state would have to perform.

I hope that very soon, the president, the revenue allocation (commission), and the National Assembly will be able to address it to provide the necessary support required for the states to comfortably implement the minimum wage and not only because of the minimum wage but on other sectors.

What's your stand on the violation of the zoning system regarding the emergence of Aminu Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House of Representatives?

The House of Representatives on their own assessment or reading decided to elect a particular person as a candidate for Speaker. The Speaker, when he was the deputy whip, was competent and likeable, and I can say he has the capacity to lead.

It is unfortunate it is not in line with the party but at the end of the day, we should not bicker over that. What is important is to be concerned whether Nigerians will benefit from his leadership, and I think he has to provide that answer by ensuring that despite the fact that he is from North-West, the House of Representatives and Nigerians will benefit from his leadership.

Let us move on from there and if there are adjustments to be made, we should make it.

Going by what happened at the presidential primaries, Nigerians by and large are really saying that it is all about what is good for the country. In the PDP primaries, some shared the view that the president should come from the north but when we went to the primaries, majority voted for a candidate.

We should be able to respect the views of the majority. We should not put the country in a combative situation; elections are over. It is now about developing the infrastructure; there is security issue. I believe that what is important now is for everybody to rally round the government for good governance.

We should not dissipate our energy that somebody emerged from one section of the country. If we do that, we are just trying to create a crisis. We should abide by the wish of the people. We may sit down to work out other adjustments which will give a sense of belonging to everybody.

What is your reaction about the ‘jumbo pay' received by the legislators in Nigeria?

The National Assembly has gone a long way to explain to the Nigerian public that the terminology called ‘allowances' are not really allowances; they are the costs of running the office.

When an administration officer is paid, for instance, N10,000, but the cost of running the office of the company is N10 million and somebody adds the N10,000 to N10 million and says that is his allowance.

The point I am making is that the NASS decided that the cost of running government is too high. The presidential system we are running is too expensive; there is the need for both the executive and the legislative arms to cut down on cost. If you look at the budget this year, you find out that all our revenue will be used more to sustain the cost of administration.

The cost of running government is so high. In line with that, the NASS decided that they will cut expenses by about 40 per cent. Also, the executive should do the same. We should bring down the cost of administration so that more money will go into real development.

We have to find a way of reducing cost in the present predicament we have found ourselves. We cannot continue to have all our revenue go into overhead. No matter how much the NASS cuts, I think it is action that will speak louder for the public domain to accept.