By Simon Ebegbulem
BENIN — THE Deputy President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, Mr. Onikolease Irabor, yesterday, stressed the need for Nigerians to vote more radical candidates into the National Assembly in the 2011 general elections, so as avoid having “sleeping Senators” in the Assembly.

He said “the nation stands to benefit if we have a vibrant National Assembly in place. Lawmakers should be judged by their contributions on the floor of the House and not number of boreholes they sunk in their constituencies few months to elections to deceive the people.”

Irabor who declared his intention to run for the Edo Central Senatorial race in 2011, while addressing newsmen in Benin City, warned against voting persons who lack ideas that would help the executive deliver dividends of democracy to Nigerians. He commended  the Senate for some laudable decisions taken so far, stressing that sleeping Senators must be flushed out  in 2011.

“Our Senators as at today have done well. But they can improve on what they are doing. Some of them are not sleeping there, except some, who I call sleeping Senators. The sleeping ones just go there to sleep. The people they represent are watching them.”

They they should come out to tell us what they have been doing, their leadership background,” he said.

We want to know what they have achieved for the people.
“When you address the issue of change and it is accepted, improvement comes in, and then you are talking for the people. You become an advocate of the masses. I am not going to be a Senator without result. I am not going to be a sleeping Senator. One of the duties of Senators is to make laws for the people. And a Senator’s impact should be felt among the people he claims to represents,” he said