Online content creator and former radio presenter Oga Obinna has taken issue with MPs’ fondness for mentioning the Speaker’s title every so often when making contributions on the floor of the House.
The comedian sought to know whether it’s a House rule for MPs to repetitively mention the title ‘Mr Speaker’ or it’s a culture one picks up along the way.
“There’s something that I have always noted, I wanted to do it in a standup set, but let me just ask now. Is it normally a must for members of Parliament to mention Mr. Speaker’s name a million times in one sentence?” he posed.
“Is that like the rule of the floor? Someone will speak for 10 minutes, six minutes he’s saying, Mr Speaker.”
In his opinion, Obinna feels that the repetition takes up time that would otherwise be utilised for more meaningful contributions.
In a video message on his Instagram handle, Obinna said contributions would be more concise if MPs went straight to the point after acknowledging the speaker at the very onset.
“You get in; you give due respect, ‘Thank you Mr Speaker for giving me chance. My point is A B C and D. Thank you Mr Speaker’ and sit down,” he said.
“Put your thoughts in order; if you can’t say them off the cuff, note them down,” Obinna said.
He said the habit is also quite rampant during meetings where some people never seem to have a flawless thought process and have to keep saying Eeh! as they attempt to figure out what to say next.
“You sit down in a meeting for five hours for something that you can do in 30 minutes,” Obinna said.
