The House of Representatives has marked the second anniversary of the 8th Assembly. Speaking at the event of the special session, Speaker of the House, Hon. Yakubu Dogara (APC: Bauchi) expressed gratitude over the privilege of presiding at a momentous occasions graced by present and previous lawmakers who had made laudable contributions to the legislative arm.
Delivering the address, Hon. Dogara presented the highlights of the House in the past legislative year (June 9th 2016- June 9th 2017) as follows:
- That a total of 1064 Bills were introduced in the House (consisting of 993 Member Bills, 21 Senate Bill and 50 Executive Bills).
- That the House had passed 126
- That 27 Bills had received presidential assent.
He also stated that the highlighted achievement surpassed any previous assembly and that the high number of Bills considered and passed attested to its effectiveness in legislating on key areas of national life at a trying time in Nigeria’s history. He was also of the view that while it was difficult to measure the direct impact of the Bills, a thorough examination indicated that they intended to get the economy off its current recession and improve the purchasing power of businesses and families. The Speaker also spoke on its engagement with citizens stating that the Public Petitions Committee had received over 500 public petitions within the last two years and had conducted public hearings on the petitions almost every week, to ensure citizen access.
Speaking further, he highlighted the crucial role the chamber played in budget reform in enhancing transparency and participation at the deliberation of the 2017 Appropriation Bill, likely to be signed into law early next week. Speaking on the 2017 Appropriation Bill process, he said that the first ever-public hearing on the budget was conducted in the National assembly to get the input of Nigerians in the 2017 national budget. Other budget reforms in his address included that the details of the Appropriation Act were made available to all members before its passage in plenary. Other novel measures included the requirement that members of each Committee should sign the report of their committees before it was sent to the Committee on Appropriation. According to the Speaker, these proactive measures ensured that the House’s debate and consideration of the 2017 budget proposal was evidence based and geared towards galvanizing the economy for greater growth.
In addition, the Speaker enumerated on its passage of several Bills designed to stimulate economic growth and promote competition such as the Bill for an Act establishing Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission stating that the legislation had potential to engender innovation and efficient allocation of resources, eliminate barriers to entry and restrictive trade practices in the Nigerian market. He was also of the view that the Bill would have a positive impact on the price and quality of goods and services available to the Nigerian consumer. However, according to him although other Bills and resolutions aimed at improving ease of doing business in Nigeria have been passed more were yet to come.
Hon. Dogara also spoke on some grey areas requiring improvement in the next legislative session such as in the timely submissions of reports, synergy in the co-ordination of activities of various Committees to prevent the duplication of activities and functions and in ensuring that Ad-Hoc Committees do not constitute themselves into permanent or Standing Committees. He also promised that that timelines for legislative measures referred to Committees would be strictly enforced.
Hon. Dogara concluded his speech by praising his fellow lawmakers for maintaining united front and their prioritization of patriotism over political and other sectional interests. He expressed hope that this attitude would continue to be maintained even in the remaining years of the 8th Assembly.
