Victor Ndoma-Egba, the senate majority leader, has said that the Senate has been the stablising factor of Nigeria’s democracy since 1999.
He however lamented that failure of over 70 per cent of National Assembly members to get re-elected had caused serious loss of institutional memory to the parliament.
Ndoma-Egba spoke in Abuja on Tuesday while picking his nomination form to contest the 2015 election under the platform of the People Democratic Party (PDP).
He said said stability in the National Assembly would best be ensured if more experienced law makers were re-elected.
The Senate leader was accompanied to the PDP secretariat by some serving and former members of the National Assembly from Cross River State.
He dismissed reports that his Cross River State governor, Liyel Imoke, was against his re-election bid saying that the governor had never kicked against his campaign to get re-elected to the Senate.
On need to develop the parliament for a viable democracy, he noted that the parliament which ought to be the main pillar of Nigeria’s democracy was yet to achieve optimal performance due to lack of very experienced members as opposed to what obtains in more advanced democratic nations.
“I am re contesting next year election because it will be in the interest of the polity for us to continue with the stability and fortunately I have been part of the leadership that have provided this stability.
We want to build capacity in this institution. We want to maximize institutional memory. In any case, and in all humility, we have been doing well,” he said.
