Let’s face it, life outside senate is suffocating, says senator

James Manager, a senator from Delta state, has called for a “special package” for ex-senators, saying that life outside the upper legislative chamber is suffocating.

Manager said this while eulogising the late Umar Hambagda‎, an ex-senator from Borno south senatorial district, on the floor of the senate on Wednesday.

He said that the late ex-senator was not well taken care of after he left the senate.

“Let’s face it, life outside the senate is suffocating,” he said.

In response, Senate President Bukola Saraki said that the senate would work out an internal mechanism of aiding ex-members.

‎Earlier, Ali Ndume, senate leader, had raised a point of order to announce the passing of Hambagda, who was in the fifth and sixth senate.

He said that the deceased was survived by a wife and 16 children.

Meanwhile, the senate has considered the request of President Muhammadu Buhari on the 2016 budget proposal for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC)‎ and that of the federal capital territory (FCT).

Saraki‎ referred the budget proposals to the appropriate committees for more legislative treatment.