• 15 days of sittings
• 12 weeks of Recess
• 109 to collect 36.4m each
• 360 Reps to collect 25m each.
• Total 13bn.
• Bill passed – zero.
• Fights over juicy committee.
NO Nigerian is in doubt as for the commitment of the Buhari administration to its anti-corruption crusade. His stance on corruption accompanied by verbal and body language is unequivocal. But many are worried regarding the seemingly lukewarm position of National Assembly in the fight against corruption.
For the benefit of clarity since the inauguration of the 8th Assembly on 9th of June, 2015, they have only managed to have 15 days of sitting with 12 weeks of recess. But should we just pass judgement based on this available data? There is a need to be critical and interrogate the fact.
Traditionally, it is normal for House of Assembly and Representatives to go on 6 weeks recess, it is seen as their own summer break. The same way lawyers go on break. It is a privilege. But it would be recalled that the other 6 weeks came on because of the crises they had which was needed to resolve the issues and wash their dirty linens behind the camera. Which actually was productive aside from the senate who still have issues unresolved.
Also, without holding brief for the NASS, the process of passage of bill is a complicated one. It must go through First, Second and third reading before passing a bill. And in between these readings it goes through committee level, which researches on the bills whether it has not existed before, anti-human, and capable of tackling the mischief it seeks to cure. Some bills may take a year to process and passed into law. That is why most bills are churned out after a year.
On the issue of money, different figures have been rolled out. Even the senators themselves claim that their salary and allowances are not move than 12 million. The budget of National Assembly is still shrouded in mystery. There is too much secrecy in government. The leadership of National Assembly should as a matter of duty and in line with current reality – battle for the soul of Nigeria, the crusade against corruption – should be able to make their budget open and the processes that leads to the budget. It is costly to leave people to assume. If the secrecy is deliberate attempt by 7th Assembly the onus is on the 8th Assembly to do the right thing. When there is lack of transparency and accountability, corruption thrives. An average Nigerian sees the National Assembly as a cesspool of corruption – A place where people go, sit, talk and collect money.
There are many government accounts that we cannot even trace but the new administration has said it will only operate single treasury account. And Lagos State is taking a cue from that, payment of pilgrimage is gradually being stopped by government of different states. So far, the National Assembly has not shown any sign of commitment to fight for the soul of Nigeria.
Unfortunately, instead of streamlining the expenses of maintaining lawmakers in National Assembly, they kicked against the move to cut their pay. In this period of debilitating and fast dwindling national revenue, you would expect them to say NO, not again; you would expect them to reject with unequivocal bluntness the imposition of any privilege, deserved or not, that seems to depict them as insensate gorgers. And the move against their pay cut is a depiction of that insensitivity.
Sadly, the report in punch newspaper recently has it that there was tension between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the major opposition party (PDP) with Yakubu Dogara having tough time on how to keep pre-election agreement before the June 9 speakership poll. The tension brewed as a result of appointment of chairman by the speaker to preside over some committee which some lawmakers term as juicy or lucrative committee – such as committee on petroleum resources upstream/downstream, Gas, Appropriation, finance, customs, NDDC, Aviation, Agricultures, Defence.
Instead of calling them lucrative, these are most tasking sectors that needs urgent reforms and transformation. These are committee that deserve intellectual input and stewardship. But our lawmakers see it as lucrative because of their selfish gain. While the National Assembly members fight over juicy committees nobody thinks of anything juicy for ordinary Nigerians who are jobless, displaced, raped, homeless, killed, unpaid and extra-judicially executive. At this time when the President is bent on fighting corruption our lawmakers are busy fighting for personal interest and privileges instead of embracing the principle of stewardship. I cannot but agree more to the words of Dwight D. Eisenhover, the 34th President of the United States of America “those who choose privileges above principles will end up having nothing.” Now we know the class of people that largely informed that apt prediction.
This class of 2015/2019 National Assembly needs to prove that they are different than the previous classes of NASS. Nigerians expect to see a more proactive NASS. A National Assembly that engages the people. It is pathetic that there is issues of fighting over juicy committee, no wonder the President is taking his time to compile the ministerial list, and also sourcing and scouring for fearless judges to try corrupt officials. The big issue that should bother the legislation should be how to create a lean government, cut cost, to come out and pledge support for the fight against corruption. We have not seen any of that. But so far it seems it is only the President and vice President that are really involve in anti-corruption war. However, they can’t fight it alone without the support of the legislators and judiciary to stamp it out, considering the fact these arms do not function in isolation.
There is no gainsaying the fact that corruption has been a major bane on Nigeria development. If our new crop of lawmakers are truly agents of change as they claim, they need to draw inspiration from the Mr. President and from the people that voted them into office. They need to update their software – their thinking and principles, rather than scrambling for hardware – privileges.
