From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said the collapse of the local government administration across the country was putting pressure on lawmakers.
Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, stated this in Abuja, at a one-day retreat organised for chairmen and deputy chairmen of standing and special committees in the House of Representatives, yesterday.
The former speaker explained that because of the failure of local government administrations, constituents now look up to their representatives in the parliament to cater for primary health care, basic education, and provide critical social infrastructure among others.
This is as the speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, said the Green chamber would hold a town hall meeting on the 2024 budget, scheduled to be presented to the Parliament, by President Tinubu, to enable citizens make input into the budget.
However, Gbajabiamila, while noting that the aim of oversight by the parliament is to ensure effective use of the government’s resources, charged the House committees to ensure their investigations were carried out in ways that did not suggest abuse of their office power.
He said: “The collapse of local government administrations across the country has created a situation, where constituents look to their legislative representatives to fill the gap and perform municipal functions in their various communities.
“It has become the legislator’s responsibility to cater to every constituency’s needs, from primary healthcare to basic education services, from maintenance of markets to support for rural cooperatives and provision of critical social
infrastructure.
“The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria did not envisage such a role for the legislator and it did not make provisions for the legislator to perform in such capacity. Yet, political reality requires the legislator to meet these constituency demands by whatever means.”
He explained that the development has compelled lawmakers, especially at the federal level, to spend more time seeking and pursuing resource opportunities to meet constituency demands instead of developing the capacities required to be effective as lawmakers.
Consequently, Gbajabiamila said: “We must have a national conversation about this state of affairs. Then, we need to agree on what steps we must take to address this situation, so that we can free our legislators to legislate for the national interest as the constitution intended.”
Declaring the retreat open, Abbas noted that the theme of the retreat: ‘Improving Legislative Performance through Effective Committee Management,’ was deliberately chosen to equip the participants with requisite understanding of the tasks ahead.
“In interfacing with the MDAs and conducting oversight, our actions should be guided by integrity, impartiality, and a commitment to serving the public good. By upholding these values, we can foster public confidence in the legislature.”
“In line with our mantra as the ‘People’s House,’ the 10th House of Representatives is committed to greater and more transparent engagement with the public. This is necessary for reducing suspicion, building trust and generating support for the work of the National Assembly.
“As we expect to receive the 2024 Appropriation Bill in a few days’ time, I wish to state that the House will convene a Budget Townhall Meeting to enable citizens to make inputs into the 2024 Appropriation. It is the first time such an engagement is planned at the national level.
“To ensure speedy passage of the 2024 budget, I charge all committees to double their efforts and finalise all considerations in two weeks. However, this does not imply haphazard and superficial consideration of the budget, rather, it is a challenge to you to deploy all resources and make the needed sacrifices to ensure that we pass the budget in good time for the good of all Nigerians.”