The Senate spokesperson, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, has lamented that many constituents now expect their representatives to function as personal benefactors, funding naming ceremonies, building homes, and solving everyday domestic needs in a move that underscores the mounting social pressures facing lawmakers.
Adaramodu, who chairs the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, spoke during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, where he challenged public assumptions about the role and responsibilities of elected legislators.
“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,” he said.
The lawmaker representing Ekiti South Senatorial District argued that this unrelenting demand from constituents goes far beyond the constitutional responsibilities of lawmakers, yet it has become an unwritten rule of engagement in Nigeria’s political culture.
Adaramodu made the remarks while responding to debates on whether Nigeria’s National Assembly, comprising 109 Senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives should operate on a part-time basis to cut costs.
To him, he said such move would not only be impractical but a direct threat to the foundation of Nigeria’s democracy.
“There is no democracy that derides its parliament and thrives,” he warned.
He insisted that lawmakers are not only lawmakers in the chambers but also lifelines for their people back home.
“The parliament is not just to sit down at the plenary and make laws alone. When we make laws, we follow it up. We do oversight.
“We advocate for our constituents. We are their only accessible arm of government,” he added.
Adaramodu also criticised the tendency to target the National Assembly for budget cuts, saying the public does not understand the critical and multifaceted role parliamentarians play in sustaining Nigeria’s fragile democracy.
“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,” he noted.
According to him, constituents rarely have direct contact with officials in the executive or judiciary, leaving lawmakers as the only visible and reachable face of government.
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