The Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume, has said the presidential system of government was not designed for poor countries like Nigeria.

He therefore suggested that Nigeria reverts to the parliamentary system of government as a way of reducing cost of governance.

Ndume said this in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said, “We can make the National Assembly a part-time arrangement for now, since we conduct our sitting once or twice in a week these days.

“If we make it part-time, that means our salaries must be reduced. The reality is that we can’t continue in a situation like this where 70 per cent of the country’s budget is going to personnel and recurrent expenditure as if everything is okay.”

He also clarified an earlier statement he made about the reduction of salaries.

Ndume, who represents Borno South in the Senate, said, “I did not ask the Federal Government to slash the salaries of civil servants across the board during an interview I granted in Maiduguri.

“When they asked me questions about the revised budget, I said the Federal Government should critically look into cutting down the cost of governance. I called for the reduction of overhead cost, salaries of senior public servants and the recurrent expenditure.”