The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, has called on Senators-elect and Members-elect of the 10th National Assembly to engage in discourse that is beyond reproach. He made this call during the induction ceremony of the first batch of new representatives on Tuesday in Abuja. In his congratulatory message to the elected members, Gbajabiamila urged them to justify their offices through the quality of their endeavors in that office.
He emphasized that the quality of law-making and advocacy, excellence in constituency services, thoroughness of oversight activities, and the substance of discourse in the chamber must be unimpeachable. He reminded the members that nothing of consequence is achieved by individual effort alone in parliament and that they must rise together to succeed.
Furthermore, Gbajabiamila urged the new members to build an effective operational relationship with the executive arm and that their responsibility for overseeing executive actions is not an invitation to conflict for its own sake. He noted that the 2023 General Elections were the most hard-fought and competitive ever since the return to democratic rule in 1999. He also pointed out that Nigeria’s democratic experience is still very young compared to others across the world and even in Africa.
In his remarks, Senate President Ahmad Lawan said that the 9th Senate was mindful of the damaging effect of persistent conflict with the Executive and the resultant impact on legislative activities. However, he was equally aware that a good working relationship is imperative to achieve effective and efficient service delivery to the people. Hence, the 9th National Assembly adopted a friendly but professional approach to executive-legislative relations.
This approach to engaging with the executive has led to a misperception and misunderstanding which has led many to tag the 9th National Assembly as a “rubber stamp” Assembly. Yet, the intention was to better serve Nigeria by providing a safe atmosphere for national development. Lawan noted that the 9th Senate had performed exceedingly well in terms of the number and quality of bills introduced, passed and assented.
Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, Director-General, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), said that the institute has the experience, tools, and expertise to support the new members in bill and motion drafting, bill analysis, and scrutiny among others. Sulaiman urged the legislators to engage regularly and constructively with the public, civil society, the media, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and other stakeholders for better legislation.
Acting British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Bill Atkinson, expressed pride in the long-standing partnership with the National Assembly. She noted that the 10th Assembly would be one of the most diverse with 70 per cent as new members. While calling on the new members to hit the ground running, Atkinson urged them to learn from their predecessors.
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