Inside 8th Assembly lawmakers’ induction course
he elected 109 senators and the 360 members of the House of Representatives, last week, converged Abuja for a 5-day induction course. Our reporters look at major happenings at the event.
The induction course for the 469 lawmakers of the incoming 8th Assembly, organised by the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS), began with a welcoming dinner on Sunday April 26 at the Nicon Hilton Hotel, Abuja, where the newly elected lawmakers had the first opportunity to interact with one another.
At the dinner, both Senate President David Mark and Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal urged the lawmakers to focus their attention on good legislations that would improve good governance and promote Nigeria’s democracy in the next four years at the National Assembly.
The proper induction course commenced on Monday, April 27, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. The event kickstarted by 9.am on that day and the first paper presented was by the Chairman of the Senate Rules and Business Committee, Senator Ita Enang, titled: “Legislative Procedures and Practice in National Assembly Focus on Standing Rules.”
Enang said that although the primary constitutional responsibility of the legislature is law making, “it does appear that the legislature in Nigeria since 1999 till date has concentrated more on motions, petitions, privileges, politicking and ‘ quasi socials’ and least on bills leading to making of new laws, amendments or repeal of existing laws or ratification of treaties.”
On the other hand, Senate President Mark, who chaired the first session, later told journalists that the high turnover of lawmakers in the National Assembly would slow down legislation in the 8th Assembly to be inaugurated next month.
Daily Trust reports that more than 70 senators and over 250 members of the House of Reps lost their re-election bid during the March 28 elections, a situation which Mark described as unfortunate, saying that it would impact negatively on the legislature.
Mark said: “Obviously when people are new to a system, it takes time for them to adjust and learn the procedures. It’s going to take time for them to even find their ways round the National Assembly building itself. So, it will be a very slow start obviously. If the members returning are more, things will start a lot quicker. It’s going to be a slow starting process because it is a learning process for about 70 percent of the members.”
The second paper on that day, titled: “Checks and balances, the appropriation process and good governance”, was presented by the former speaker of the House, Ghali Umar Na’Abba, who noted that the duties and functions of the three arms must be separated from one another in a presidential system to give each arm the latitude to operate as provided in the Constitution.
However, there was a mild drama on that day when some newly elected lawmakers kicked against the preference given to the ranking members in the selection of presiding and other principal officers.
Their action was sequel to the arguments of a paper presented by the Clerk of the House, Mohammed Sani Omolori, titled: “Formation of a New Parliament.”
Omolori highlighted the need to respect the principle of ranking in constituting the National Assembly’s leadership, which is part of the rules of the parliament.
Leading the newly elected lawmakers, senator-elect for Kaduna Central, Comrade Shehu Sani, described the principle as “the tyranny of the experienced against the inexperienced.”
Of course, Sani was supported by the newly elected lawmakers who are in the majority.
On that day, a total of six papers were presented on legislative procedures and practice in the National Assembly. They were: Focus on standing rules; checks and balances, the appropriation process and good governance; leadership in the National Assembly; opening of a new parliament; overview of the National Assembly structures and functions and representation and constituency relations.
On Tuesday, April 28, seven papers were presented, comprising Constitutional powers of the legislature; bill process and constitutional amendments; budget process and money bills; private sector perspectives on public expenditure; motions and resolutions; floor procedures and amendments of bills as well as mock session of floor procedures and amendments of bills.
Rep Albert Tanimu Sam-Tsokwa, Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, said while presenting his paper, titled: “Motions and resolutions”, that resolutions of the National Assembly on any matter could not be referred to as mere opinions of the lawmakers as they passed through legislative tests before their final declaration.
This interpretation goes contrary to the understanding the matter by the executive arm which sees National Assembly resolutions as mere declarations that are not binding on it.
Still on that day, NILS Director General Dr Ladi Hamalai, while speaking to journalists, suggested that holding midterm elections for legislators would serve as a way of retaining many of the lawmakers in the Assembly.
She said: “In the US, for example, every two years they elect half of the congress in what is called, mid-term election. In such an election, almost 90 per cent of the legislators are returned. In this arrangement, not all the legislators go for re-election at the same time.”
On Wednesday, April 28, presidentelect, Muhammadu Buhari, in what was the first of its kind since the inception of this democratic dispensation, appeared at the venue of the induction course and addressed the elected lawmakers.
His primary reason for appearing at the event, he said, was to seek the support of the incoming lawmakers, as partners in progress, for a better Nigeria.
Buhari said: “For a president to be successful in addressing community development and general welfare of the various people of the country, he or she would benefit from working closely and in harmony with the legislative arm of government. I therefore commit myself to working with the legislature as development partners motivated by the desire to deliver good governance.”
The president-elect identified certain areas of challenge which he said must be given attention. These areas include insecurity and insurgency; devastation and environmental degradation in the Niger Delta and decline in revenues due to fall in oil prices; endemic corruption, which crippled human and infrastructure development for decades.
Others, he said, were unacceptably poor provision of power supply; deindustrialisation for the past three decades leading to closure of many industries; unacceptably high levels of unemployment; high cost of governance; erosion of public social services such as infrastructure, health and education and lack of development in the agricultural and solid mineral sectors.
“I see these development challenges as the mission of my presidency. I need the support of members of the National Assembly on the battle front. I need your support in many respects.”
The following seven papers were presented on that day: committees in the National Assembly: types activities; challenges and procedures for committee deliberations (A&B); bill referrals and public hearings; legislative oversight; civil-military relations; containing insurgency in Nigeria; security and governance as well as treaties and international obligations.
On the last day of the induction course, which was Thursday, April 30, six papers were presented, dealing with the role of legislative aides and parliamentary staff in the legislative process; constituency projects; parliamentary immunity and privileges; effective communications in the legislature; majority and minority parties in the legislature; party defection (cross-carpeting) in the legislature and EFCC’s role in nation building.
The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, in a closing remark, urged the incoming lawmakers to utilise the knowledge gained during the induction course to enrich their contributions on legislation.
Ekweremadu, who is the chairman of the NILS Governing Council, said that with the quality papers presented during the 5-day event, the incoming legislators would be better equipped to face the challenges before them.
He urged participants to be agents of change, especially in the next dispensation, adding: “They should legislate towards poverty reduction, conflict resolution, peace building and the development of human capacity.”
The induction course, NILS said, was in line with its mandate to conduct periodic short and refresher courses for national and state legislators, staff, committee secretaries and aides to lawmakers on democracy and good governance.
During the course, the lawmakers eyeing various positions in the National Assembly used the opportunity to solicit for support, especially from their newly elected colleagues, who are in majority.
A campaign poster of Rep Abdulmumin Jibrin, who is contesting for speaker, was conspicuously displayed at the gallery in the lobby of the venue, while the pamphlets of Rep Mohammed Tahir Monguno, another major contender for speaker, were distributed to the lawmakers.
Other major contenders for speakership like Femi Gbajabiamila and Yakubu Dogara were said to have been involved in underground campaigns at the event.
Those contesting for the position of Senate president like Bukola Saraki, Ahmad Lawan, George Akume, Mohammed Danjuma Goje and Ali Ndume were all seen at one point or the other, having discussions with their colleagues in a bid to win their support.
Some governors that won election to the Senate were also seen in attendance. They included Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Theodore Orji (Abia) and Jonah Jang (Plateau).
A group of lawmakers from the House called ‘The Patriots’ also emerged during the event. The convener, Musa Sarkin Adar (APC, Sokoto), addressed a press conference on the last day of the event, saying they would conduct integrity test among the various contenders for the speaker’s seat in order to have the best out of them.
He said they would look at competence, confidence, integrity, knowledge, experience, track records, versatility, reliability, networking, among others.