The lawmaker representing Borno South senatorial district, Ali Ndume, has taken a swipe at the current state of the National Assembly, accusing the legislature of turning into a rubber stamp body that no longer fulfils its constitutional mandate of checks and balances.

Naijaonpoint reports that the former Chief Whip of the Senate made the claim while speaking on Arise Television on Tuesday night.

Ndume said, “It has become less democratic. Let me say, it’s very unfortunate.

“If you look at what the Senate or the National Assembly historically was built for — the Senate is supposed to be a house of deliberation, where people will deliberate on policies of government, actions of government, spendings of government. That we are not doing now.”

According to the senator, the National Assembly has shifted from deliberation to mere approval, robbing the system of its independence and weakening the principles of separation of powers.

“We are more of an approving institution. We are just giving unnecessary support to the executive,” he stated.

He further expressed concern over what he termed the personalisation and privatisation of government, warning that the current trend erodes the foundations of democracy.

“That division of executive, legislature and judiciary is no longer there. Government has, to some extent now, been personalised and privatised,” he said.