The House of Representatives at its plenary session on June 9th 2016, marked one year of its inauguration of the 8th Assembly. Speaker of the House, Hon. Yakubu Dogara(APC: Bauchi) in his address expressed gratitude over the leadership role bestowed upon him and also applauded the commitments made by his colleagues in ensuring success.
During the address, Hon. Dogara presented the highlights of the House in the past legislative year to include setting up a Committee of Experts to undertake Legislative Needs Assessment,an Ad-hoc Committee on Code of Conduct for Honourable Members and a Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation. Other achievements mentioned includes, Implementing the use of templates, manuals and standardized formats for committee activities; Reviewing the Standing Orders of the House on two occasions- October 17th 2015 and March 23rd 2016 respectively
Speaking on Legislative Initiatives, Hon. Dogara stated that the House had constituted a standing committee on Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons in the North East Zone. He also considered the past legislative session as one of very high activism when compared to earlier legislative periods. He stated that during the session of June 9th 2015- June 9th 2016, a total of 685 Bills were received in the House (675 Member Bills and 10 Executive Bills), out of which 416 are awaiting to be read a second time; 130 referred to Committees; 3 awaiting consideration and 85 passed so far.
On the issue of House Resolutions, Hon. Dogara confirmed that 530 motions were introduced out of which 15 were withdrawn. He also stated that quite a sizeable number of these motions moved had been passed with resolutions. According to the Speaker, the Public Petitions Committee received 306 public petitions, which has remained a major tool for citizen access to the legislature with quite a large number being processed.
In his concluding remarks, Hon. Dogara stated that a strong foundation had been laid in the first session and further urged Members to make a positive impact on the lives of citizens through effective and relevant legislations.
Also at the plenary session, the House began deliberations on the presentations made by various Ministers during the sectoral debate. The aim is to provide a platform for the lawmakers to discuss topical issues and address challenges identified in the presentations. It will be recalled that the House of Representatives on May 3rd 2016, commenced sectoral debates, as promised in its Legislative Agenda on “Diversification of the Economy: Real Sector Development” in fulfillment of one of the cardinal commitment made by the House that sought to strengthen policies and legislations to boost Nigeria’s economic growth. The Ministers’ of Agriculture; Information Culture and Tourism; Communications; Petroleum; Finance; Trade and Investment; and Solid Minerals were invited to brief the House on their implementation plans in diversifying the economy.
The lawmakers debated on the need for the Federal Government to review its policies on foreign exchange in order to achieve maximum results and optimize resources, as well as ensure adequate measures are put in place to tackle insecurity. Other areas explored in the course of the discussion include accountability and transparency in Government, infrastructural development and power.
