One important feature of the 8th National Assembly is its incessant recess and penchant for holidays. At the outset of the present National Assembly, the signs of what to expect in terms of breaks came to the fore, when it sat for just four days in two months of its inauguration on June 11, 2015.
The 7th National Assembly was probably even worse off. With a humongous budget of N150 billion annually, the Assembly failed to do justice to some essential bills before its demise, like the constitution amendment, the Petroleum Industry Bill and the amendment to the Electoral Act.
Worse still, over 90 per cent of resolutions passed by that Assembly were ignored by the government of the day. It was therefore expected that an All Progressives Congress majority Assembly would be different, especially with the APC’s change mantra.
Alas, it has remained business as usual. It is disheartening that despite the huge salaries and allowances drawn by national lawmakers, they work for less than half of the year for an annual pay.
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives sit for only 181 days in a year. But this has even not been the case in the actual sense, considering the total number of long recess that the lawmakers take on a yearly basis.
Nigerians expect nothing short of value for the money expended on the federal lawmakers, as there is so much legislative work begging for attention for the upliftment of the nation from the drudgery of economic recession
For a one-day Eid-el-Kabir celebration, for instance, the National Assembly goes on a three-week recess; for a three-day celebration of Christmas, Boxing Day and the New Year, it is another three-week recess for the federal lawmakers.
This is apart from the six-week annual recess of the Assembly. For a three-day Easter celebration of Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, the lawmakers leave the chambers for another three weeks, while they are away for six weeks during Ramadan, when the official Eid-el-Fitri holiday is two days.
Recall that during its inauguration on June 9, 2015, the 8th Assembly sat for only three days before embarking on a 12-day recess, which lasted till June 23, 2015. Three days after resumption, the lawmakers again went on another three weeks break.
Unfortunately, it seems the Constitution has given the federal lawmakers the leeway, as it allows the Legislature to mandatorily sit for 181 days to complete a legislative session. Without doubt, these incessant breaks and recesses cannot allow for robust legislative duties.
This, perhaps, explains why, in real terms, the lawmakers have not achieved anything meaningful in terms of constructive legislative work since their inauguration almost 20 months ago. It is not in doubt why Nigerians voted in the lawmakers: for effective, efficient and hands-on legislative work. But it may not be out of place to say that the lawmakers have made their service to the nation a part-time one.
This is against the backdrop of the huge Nigerian tax payers’ money expended to sustain the lawmakers to work, full time and not on part time basis. In the United States of America, which we modelled our democracy after, for example, the Congress sits for less than 181 days, but the difference is that a legislative day in the American Congress spans more than 24 hours.
Available records show that the House of Representatives averaged 139 “legislative days” a year since 2001. A legislative day is defined as any official meeting of the legislative body to do the people’s business and technically, it ends only when the session is adjourned.
The same goes for the Senate. Of course, there’s much more to being a congressman than voting. One of the most important aspects to the job is being accessible and responsive to the people who voted them into office.
It’s called constituent service – answering phone calls from the public, holding town-hall meetings on important issues, and assisting members of the 435 congressional districts with their problems.
That is one aspect that is lacking in the Nigerian example. Many lawmakers only return to their constituencies when it is another election time. Many don’t even pick their calls while some change their normal telephone numbers immediately they get to the Assembly and become inaccessible to their constituents.
Nigerians expect nothing short of value for the money expended on the federal lawmakers, as there is so much legislative work begging for attention for the upliftment of the nation from the drudgery of economic recession.
There is no gainsaying the fact that lawmaking all over the world is not only a very serious, but selfless and committed business. Nigeria cannot, therefore, afford to be an exception to this global legislative best practice.
It is on this basis that we call on the National Assembly members to put their personal interest on the back burner and allow national interest to guide their actions.
