Date: 2017-07-02

A former Nigerian Senator and one time Governor of KWARA State, Chief Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo has criticized the present crop of members of the National Assembly accusing them of been insensitive to the plight of the citizens who voted them into office.

Chief Adebayo, a Senator under the proscribed Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in the Second Republic made this disclosure in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital while answering questions on a special edition of Playing Host, a Radio KWARA personally interview programme.

The former lawmaker claimed that the present legislators have concentrated more on their personal convinces despite the poverty Nigerians are going through particularly now that the nation is undergoing economic recession. According to him , to make things worst, the electorate are not privy to the take home pay or the allowances the present legislators draw while they even earn more than their American counterparts and said he would be frustrated if he was a member of the present Senate.

Chief Adebayo therefore appealed to the law makers to spend more time on areas and issues that are of primary concern to Nigerians in order to reduce their level of poverty and frustration.

He called on the judiciary to be in more active cooperation with the government and the security agencies and suggested that foreign experts could be enlisted where necessary to hasten investigations and judgement in cases relating to corruption stressing that the executive can not take over the job of the judiciary.

The former governor was of the view that the fight against corruption had not been sufficiently won but however, praised the efforts of President Muhammadu BUHARI in this regard.

According to him , the present unemployment rate in the country had never been so high and urged the government to urgently address it more so that life has changed negatively for the youths due to unemployment.

Chief Adebayo described the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as one of the most important offices today in the country because the commission determines those who rule the people through democratic process and urged the commission to improve on the electoral process to ensure a free and fair elections.

The former Senator who was a Chieftain of the proscribed National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), expressed support and commitment to multi - party democracy and independent candidacy, recalled that the 1993 election where Late Chief MKO Abiola was adjudged winner was the fairest election Nigeria ever held adding that the nature of his death is still a matter of question.

He described his relationship with the Late Doctor Olushola Saraki when he was the Senate Leader in the then senate as cordial despite the fact that they were in separate political parties but disclosed that late Doctor Saraki did not play any role in his election or his becoming the state governor during the 1983 elections as he was not unknown to the people of the state.

"I won the election despite the fact that he persuaded LAK Jimoh to come up on a platform of another party.Our party UPN believed in primaries, we went through three sessions and the last one was held in the stadium.The times were such that people wanted a change and I had easy support from the people of Ilorin.I had six years in the secondary school in Ilorin, you can imagine how many Ilorin people were friends and associates and we relate including IDPU" Senator Adebayo added. Chief Adebayo suggested to the Senate President, Doctor Bukola Saraki to put in place a think tank or an advisory committee that will help him to access and attend to crucial issues on how things are moving in the country so that at the end of his tenure, he would create a history of performance of himself.

The former Governor who is a professional teacher, expressed concern over the status of education in the country and said sound education depends on good teachers and well funded and well equipped schools but lamented that things are going worst in Nigeria adding that the number of universities have increased but the quality of education has fallen and teachers are not regularly paid and therefore urged the Buhari administration to quickly address the rot in the education sector.