10th NASS: Gbajabiamila tasks Senators-elect, Members-elect to impeachable debate

Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has urged Senators-elect and Members-elect of the 10th National Assembly to participate in discourse that must be beyond reproach.

He made the announcement on Tuesday in Abuja, declaring the induction of the first batch of new representatives into their positions.

Gbajabiamila, while congratulating the members on their election victories, called on them to justify the offices they held by the quality of their efforts while serving in that office.

“What this means for those of us who serve in the legislature is that the standard of our legislation and advocacy, the caliber of the services we provide to our constituents, the rigor with which we carry out our oversight responsibilities, and the substance of the debates we have within the chamber must be beyond reproach.

“It is with great pleasure that I greet you at this extraordinary juncture in the annals of our nation’s history when the skills, perspectives, and commitment of all of our political leaders are required to guide us through the challenges we face today and hopefully towards the success we deserve.

“As you prepare to enter the 10th Assembly, I want to stress the importance of keeping in mind that nothing of consequence can be accomplished in the legislature through the efforts of a single individual.
Either you will succeed together or you will fail individually.

“In addition, you have the significant responsibility of developing a productive working relationship with the executive arm of the organization. Your responsibility for overseeing executive actions does not constitute an open invitation to conflict simply for the sake of conflict.

He went on to say that the General Elections that took place in 2023 were the ones that were the most fiercely contested and competitive ever since the country had returned to democratic rule in 1999.

“Assumptions about electoral performance that were based on historical antecedents were proven to be incorrect in this election.

“Deeply ingrained political parties and interests were uprooted in locations where this had been proven impossible for the previous two decades.

“Persons who had never aspired to political office or whose previous aspirations had failed, succeeded this time,” said the winning candidate.

“The playbook for our national politics has been completely rewritten. We have entered a new era in the history of democracy in Nigeria. The people of Nigeria have recently become aware of the immense power that lies within their votes.

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“The days of an officeholder’s membership in a particular political party conferring on them a virtually automatic guarantee of reelection have come to an end as a result of this election.”

The speaker also mentioned that the democratic process in Nigeria was still in its infancy when compared to other countries around the world and even other countries in Africa.

“This dreadful turn of events places an urgent obligation on all of us political leaders to speed up the democratic dividends for all of the people in our nation; either that, or we risk the complete loss of legitimacy, which can only result in negative outcomes.

“In order for our democracy to live up to the reasonable expectations of the people of Nigeria, the institutions of our government need to become significantly more effective than they are right now.”

As he opened the ceremony, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, stated that the 9th Senate had been mindful from the very beginning of the potentially damaging effect that persistent conflict with the Executive could have and the subsequent impact that it would have on legislative activities.

“However, we were also fully aware that a positive working relationship is not only desirable but absolutely necessary in order to accomplish the goal of providing effective and efficient service to the people.

“As a result of this, the 9th National Assembly, which I presided over, took a cordial but businesslike approach to relations between the executive branch and the legislature.

“The primary goal here was to cultivate a harmonious working relationship based on mutual respect, consultation, cooperation, collaboration, and partnership.”

“Because of the way in which engagement with the executive branch has been handled, many people have the wrong impression and misunderstanding that the 9th National Assembly is nothing more than a “rubber stamp” assembly.

“Yet, our goal in favoring an engagement with the executive that is based on harmony and collaboration has been to better serve Nigeria by creating a secure environment for the growth of the nation,”

According to Lawan, the 9th Senate had an extremely successful session in terms of the quantity and quality of bills that were introduced, passed, and signed into law.

“As of the month of July 2022, a total of 874 bills have been presented for consideration in the Senate, of which 162 have been approved.

“Remarkably, President Muhammadu Buhari has given his approval to 104 of the bills that were passed by the 9th Senate.

“As a result of this, it was significantly higher than those of previous assemblies,” the author writes, “which recorded 31 for the 4th Assembly, 98 for the 5th Assembly, 52 for the 6th Assembly, 60 for the 7th Assembly, and 74 for the 8th Assembly.”

Also speaking was Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, Director-General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), who stated that the institute possesses the experience, tools, and expertise to support the new members in the drafting of bills and motions, as well as the analysis and scrutiny of bills, among other things.

Sulaiman urged the legislators to engage with the public, civil society, the media, Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), and other stakeholders on a regular basis and in a constructive manner in order to improve the legislation.

On her part, acting British High Commissioner to Nigeria Bill Atkinson stated that the commission was proud of the long standing partnership with the National Assembly. Atkinson made this statement on behalf of the commission.

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She predicted that the tenth Assembly would be one of the most diverse in history, with seventy percent of its members being brand new.

At the same time that Atkinson was encouraging the new members “to hit the ground running,” he urged them to learn from the mistakes made by their predecessors.