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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Reps seek financial autonomy, set agenda
AT the recent retreat of the House of Representatives at the Minna centre, former President of the Academic Staff Union Universities (ASUU), Dr. Asisi Asobie reminded the lawmakers of the expectations of the constitution. He told them that the success or failure of the democratic project depends largely on their ability to perform the roles placed on them by the constitution.
However, most lawmakers have not stopped to wonder if most of their responsibilities can be effectively discharged without financial autonomy from the executive. An example of their financial handicap is the situation where inquests into the management of public fund as assigned to the legislature by Section 88 of 1999 Constitution, will have to depend on release of funds by the executive. This is so because the executive has to make fund available by releasing allocations to the National Assembly. Incidentally, if the executive feels uncomfortable with such inquiry into its operation, it could decide to withhold funds. The lawmakers said that this has been the experience since 1999.
This means that although the Constitution empowers the legislature, in practise, it has to grovel before the executive for its existence.
Realising the inherent anomaly, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, has taken up the challenge to push for financial autonomy of the legislature.
Since he assumed office in June 2003, he has taken the campaign for the liberation of the legislature from the financial stranglehold of the executive to different fora.
In a remark during a conference of speakers in Abuja last year, Masari told the speakers from the 36 state Houses of Assembly that for as long as the legislature has to go begging the executive for its statutory allocation, so long will the polity continue to suffer.
The speakers discussed the issue during their plenary session and it became one of the highlights of the communiquZ
While hosting a delegation from the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, in Jos, Masari harped on the issue of financial autonomy of the legislature. Recently, at an interactive session with a section of the press, the speaker reiterated the urgent need for this financial circumcision.
He explained that the legislature is in a better position to generate information, through its oversight function and such information could be utilised by the other arms for policy formulation.
The information gathering process, Masari maintained is capital intensive. Besides, the situation in the House of Representatives where over 120 members have no offices makes Masari's campaign a priority.
Aware that his campaign can be misconstrued, Masari said the autonomy being sought does not mean that the money should be placed at the disposal of the principal officers. He wants the money placed in a vault where the management of the National Assembly could have access to it for the provision of basic working tools.
"We are not saying give us the money, but let the necessary and basic tools that will enable us work effectively be put in place," he said.
The 1999 Constitution envisages a National Assembly as capable of checking the other organs of government in a manner that all actions of government will reflect the wishes and aspirations of the people. The constitution in this regard looks at the legislature as true representatives of the people, even where the executive has the entire country as its constituency.
Sections 81, 82 and 83 vest in the National Assembly the power to determine how much the nation can spend in a particular period, while Sections 88 and 89 give the legislature the power to monitor the expenditure to avoid waste and corruption. The constitution also provides the legislature with the bread and the knife but regrettably, the same constitution denies the National Assembly the empowerment with which to perform these functions.
In Section 81 (3) the constitution provides the enactment for the judiciary to perform its role within the context of separation of powers by placing it on first line charge. In other words, the operation of the judiciary as an arm of government is not tied to the whims and caprices of the executive in terms of funding.
Unfortunately, this is not the case with the legislature, which is to some extent, four persons in one. That is, it is a representative, a lawmaker, a policy maker and an overseer of the executive.
To take this campaign further, the Committee of the Senate and the House, working on the Review of the 1999 Constitution had been briefed. And baring any hindrance by those who may not be inclined to the proposal, the next Constitution may provide succour for the legislature. As another measure, the House has worked out a legislative agenda that will capture this and other desires deemed necessary to beef up operations.
The House, in June 2004 raised a 19-man ad-hoc committee to prepare a legislative agenda, which will serve as a roadmap for the remaining period of their tenure.
The task of the committee, seen in the light of the shoestring budget of the House, is to work out an agenda that can be implemented within the period. The committee has turned in an interim report. The chairman of the committee, Salik Ahmed, while presenting the report, disclosed that four critical areas were identified. They include core legislative issues, environment and infrastructure, and over-sight functions.
In 2000, the former Speaker of the House of Reps, Alhaji Ghali Umar Na'Abba led the House to launch a contract with Nigeria. He told Nigerians then that the essence was for the House to be judged, based on the contract after their tenure.
The volatility under which Na'Abba's House operated largely made the execution of that contract difficult, because they were seen as signing a different contract after the one entered into at the polls.
However, the chairman of the House Committee on Public Affairs, Ms Abike Dabiri, who is also a member of the ad-hoc Committee argued that the legislative agenda is a novel idea under Masari and it is aimed at refocusing the legislature. In order to enable members internalise the concept, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) has accepted to organise a retreat on the agenda. It is hoped that the House will soon embark on the experiment that will enable them carve a new niche in the annals of the country's legislature.
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