A PAPER DELIVERED BY H.E. SEN (DR.) DAVID A.B. MARK, GCON, PRESIDENT OF THE 6TH AND 7TH SENATE, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE LEADERSHIP RETREAT OF THE 10TH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, ON 22ND SEPTEMBER, 2023, IKOT-EKPENE, AKWA IBOM STATE
[PROTOCOL]
1. I want to thank you most sincerely for inviting me to be one of the resource persons at this first ever retreat exclusively for the Principal Officers of the National Assembly. I am humbled.
2. Let me start by congratulating you on your success at the February 2023 elections. Let me congratulate you further on your election as a Principal Officer of the National Assembly. These two are no mean achievements.
3. However, let me add that I don’t envy you either. You have come into the equation at a very difficult and trying period in the history of this country.
4. First, problems associated with the necessary but untimely removal of the fuel subsidy without immediate palliatives and other economic programmes in place. This has brought untold hardship on the people. The merits and the demerits of the removal notwithstanding, it has painted politicians as insensitive, increased crime rate and exacerbated poverty.
5. Secondly, the high level of insecurity in the years preceding your elections adversely affected the economy, prevented farmers from going to the farm. This has resulted in food scarcity.
6. Thirdly, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) decision to float the Naira, laudable as it may be, has resulted in all sorts of hardship. It has reduced the spending power of the worker and the ordinary Nigerian. It has resulted in the depreciation of the Naira and also escalated high cost of living.
7. Whilst you were campaigning, you made many promises. You promised you would build schools, hospitals, bridges, culverts and roads. You promised you would provide water. You promised you would solve the socio-economic problems of your constituents if elected. You promised you would make laws for peace, order and good government etc. Their expectations are therefore quadrupled.
8. Suddenly, your constituents now see you in new SUVs with police escorts and perhaps with crests on your Car depicting your new status as Senate or House Leader, Deputy Leader or Whip etc., and they now believe that you have arrived because your status has changed. This also increases their expectations.
9. Your constituents can access you easily. They may not be able to reach the governor or the executives but can always reach you.
10. Your colleagues also look up to you.
11. Already, the public image of the National Assembly is not the best. This is understandable. The Legislature is the youngest of the three Arms of Government but has suffered the most. In the several years of Military Rule, the other two arms, Executive and Judiciary remain but the Legislature is usually the one that is scraped.
12. Furthermore, we still have problems of religious conflicts, high crime rate, unemployment, farmer/herder clashes, banditry and terrorism, food shortage, insufficient and decaying infrastructure, out-of-school children, and poor health facilities, amongst others.
13. These are the challenges facing you. They are not the creation of the legislators, but people expect you to find solutions to them.
14. In the midst of all these, you have the programme from your constituencies to cope with vis-a-vis the promises made during your campaign.
15.The sum total of what I have said so far is that the people’s expectation is very high. This is the situation you have found yourselves.
16.You can therefore see why I said at the beginning that I don’t envy you.
17. To address all these problems, you must set a legislative agenda. In doing this, you have to be innovative and think and act outside the box. It cannot be business as usual. You must therefore design a legislative agenda that can provide a legal and regulatory framework that will support government initiatives and policies. The agenda must show in clear and concrete terms how to address the issues facing the nation. It must respond to critical national issues like growing the economy, job creation, insecurity, rule of law, food security, anti-corruption etc. Furthermore, it must show the synergy between the Legislative Agenda and the Executive Programmes.
18.You must honestly debate government policies to see the merits and the demerits without party sentiments. Above all, you should have committees that will vigorously oversight Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). You should therefore ensure that your standing committees are properly equipped in its composition to do its work.
19. Because you are operating in a very difficult and challenging period, people will be more critical of your actions or inactions, commissions or omissions, and what you do or fail to do.
20.You are certainly not responsible for these situations, but don’t forget that you campaigned to solve them and people voted for you to solve them. As I said, none of these are your creation or doing but you are the ones in the driver’s seat now.
21.All these are against the backdrop of the most controversial elections since the beginning of the 4th Republic in 1999. Not surprisingly, the result of the election is the emergence of other political parties outside the two traditionally dominant parties. The diversity is the result of the active participation and interest shown by youths. This is perhaps a clear signal that the youths are dissatisfied with us the older generation.
22. A cursory look at the spread in the National Assembly shows APC with majority in the Senate with 59, PDP 36, Labour eight, SDP two, NNPP two, APGA one, YPP one, and in the House of Representatives, APC with majority of 178, PDP 115, Labour 35, SDP two, NNPP 19, APGA five, YPP two and ADC two. *********************************
23. This spread requires careful management for the smooth running of the assembly. Because of the controversy trailing the results, Nigerians expect you rightly or wrongly to legislate to ensure a better or less controversial elections in future.
24. One of the areas mostly ignored at the National Assembly is Cross Party Collaboration. However, I personally believe it is very important. Even though you may have majority in the house, you still need the cooperation of the members of the other political parties for the smooth running of the house. This collaboration could be both formal and informal. It is more important now than ever before, because of the spread or diversity of membership in the houses. I strongly recommend that you encourage this. It should be done irrespective of how people voted, campaigned, lobbied and or acted in the various elections of the principal officers. It will foster unity, consensus, smooth passage of bills and ensure less rancour in the chambers.
25. Sometimes, even as a majority party, you may need to make concession or concede on some issues. It should not be a winner takes all.
26. Let me go back to the issue of committees. There are eight Special Committees and 63 Standing Committees in the Senate. Similarly, there are Seven Special Committees, 74 Standing Committees in the House of Representatives. The US Senate, has a total of 24 Committees made up of four Special Committees, 16 Standing Committees and Four Joint Committees. This is for the sake of comparison.
27. Most of the legislative works are done in the committees. Therefore, it is important that the Committees are made to function properly and effectively. In the Senate Standing Orders 2022 (as amended), Order 94(2) it is stated that a Senator shall not serve in more than seven committees, which means a Senator can be in six committees. This clearly in my opinion is not a wise thing to do.
28. A legislator if he is in six committees will not be able to participate effectively or efficiently in the committee assignments.
29. Besides this, the total of 71 committees (8 plus 63) in the Senate and 81 committees (7 plus 74) in the House of Representatives, in my opinion is unwieldy. You must understand that not every Senator or House member can be a chairman of a committee. A Ranking member of a committee is as effective and as influential as a chairman of the committee. Creating so many committees for patronage and political expediency is counter-productive. In constituting the committee, it will be advisable to ensure expertise, party spread, geographical balancing and ranking. I must emphasize the issue of ranking; it is very important in the legislature.
30. Furthermore, the committees should be properly funded, staffed and encouraged to interact more with the public, and do more research. Reducing the committees will ensure the following:
a. Increase the membership per committee, thus bringing in more expertise and party spread
b. Improve funding
c. Make for better committee meeting attendance and participation
d. Better staffing
e. Better coordinated research – avoid duplication of efforts
31. The most important function of the committee is oversight. Distinguished Senators and Honourable members should not see oversight as a mere visit or jamboree. If the Executive is allowed to fund the oversight, the likelihood of compromising is increased.
32.Let me briefly address the issue of ranking. You would notice that the constitution has not specified the number of terms or tenure for the legislators. This is probably because the longer a legislator stays in the parliament, the more effective he becomes. The constituents have to be made to understand this.
33. Unfortunately, very often, we hear phrases like, “we don’t allow more than one term in this constituency but he or she has done two or more terms already, and therefore, we will not allow it, it is our turn.” Thus, the high turnover in the National Assembly. In the current assembly, 73 senators are first-timers. The disadvantages of a fresher in the parliament are obvious.
34. Caucuses are bipartisan in membership and often have co-chairs.
35. Caucuses are interest groups that come together to put pressure or exert influence on legislation. Caucuses could be formed based on gender, environment, security, Armed Forces. They are not too many caucuses at the National Assembly at the moment, but you have Northern Senators’ caucus, Southern Senators’ caucus, Party caucuses and State caucuses.
36. However, these caucuses don’t exert much influence or pressure at the moment. I would encourage parliamentarians to form more caucuses based on interests.
37. In conclusion, distinguished Senators and Honourable members, committee systems and caucuses are essential mechanisms for balancing diversity and promoting effective representation in legislative houses. By fostering inclusivity, encouraging dialogue and providing platforms for diverse voices to be heard, you can strengthen legislative effectiveness and ensure that the laws and policies you make truly reflect the needs and aspirations of all citizens for the good of all.
38. The task before you in the 10th assembly is enormous, but I am sure you will rise to the occasion to address it. To effectively deliver on your mandate you must be committed and remain focused on your priorities and legislative agenda.
39. Thank you, and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
SEN. (DR) DAVID A.B. MARK, GCON, FNIM, FNIPR,
PRESIDENT OF THE 6TH & 7TH SENATE, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.
