Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Mr Ojo Amos, has identified inadequate funding as the main impediment in the execution of oversight functions of legislators.
Amos made the remark at a three-day capacity building workshop for staff of the Senate (GL. 15-17) held on Monday in Abuja.
The training was organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) for staff on Director level.
The CNA was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Human Resources in the National Assembly, Mr Biodun Oladoyin.
“It is regrettable that funding has been inhibiting the activities of our committees, especially in the area of effective oversight functions.
“In comparison to what is available as global best practices, committees should have vehicles, fully equipped secretariat and funds to conduct activities.
“There must be diligent record keeping, for easy and quick referencing always, for the purpose of rendering smooth advice to the legislators.
“There is also need to formulate realistic annual work plan for the committees.
“It is imperative that the Senate, the highest legislative partner in Nigeria’s representative democracy, continuously responds to rising expectations of constituents.
“This is in order to be on top of its constitutional functions of representation, law making and other oversight duties.”
Amos said the internal workings of parliament and relations with the other branches of government, especially the executive, were fundamental to the health of the National Assembly in Nigeria.
“Directors should be accountable to their committees and departments, because under our watch, we will not entertain any excuse, as we will not hesitate to apply the public service rules against any erring staff.”
In his remarks, Director-General of NILDS, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman said the ability of the legislature to effectively deliver on its mandate depended on its human resources- both legislators and, equally importantly, parliamentary staff who provide essential support to legislators and their activities.
“Effective parliaments enhance democracy and generally promote good governance and socio-economic development.
“Staff are therefore the backbone of the legislature, serving not only as engine-room but also the institutional memory of the Assembly.”
Sulaiman said that the workshop was designed following a needs assessment study conducted by the Clerk of the Senate in 2020 before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In addition to that, the institute recognises the serious lacuna that opened up in the National Assembly following mass retirements in the last two years.
“This has made the need for training of staff even more necessary to ensure smooth operations of the assembly, particularly in core legislative areas such as chamber operations, among others.”
The Director-General said that the institute had already lined up similar workshops for Senate staff on GL 12-14, GL 8-10 and GL 4-7 with plans to extend the trainings to staff of the House of Representatives.
Senator Ahmad Lawan, President of the Senate while declaring the workshop open, said the workshop focused on the staff of the Senate on director levels (GL 15-17) to better achieve improved quality.
According to Lawan, who was represented by Senate Minority Whip, Sen. Philip Aduda, the implication of this is that NILDS is not just concerned about an overall improvement of service delivery, but a growth in the performance levels of different service grades.
“The NILDS training envisages avenues of improvement, aside from reminding us of new techniques in service delivery,” Lawan said.
