‘Parliamentary resolutions not mere advisory’

INCOMING members of the House of Representatives have been charged to view their new engagement as a very serious business that requires focus and dedication on their parts.

They were also admonished not to subscribe to the position of President Good luck Jonathan who was once reported to have stated that resolutions of the parliament are mere opinion of lawmakers and only advisory.

The president was also reported to have said that the resolutions were not binding on him to act on.

Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Albert Sam-Tsokwa, in a paper he presented at the induction programme for members-elect of the 8th National Assembly in Abuja, said describing the resolutions of the parliament as mere advisory is “highly bankrupt” 

Delivering the paper titled “Understanding Bills and Resolutions”, the lawmaker said, “it is highly bankrupt for the president to remark that resolutions from motions passed by the National Assembly were mere advisory.”

Earlier, the minority leader, Femi Gbajabiamila who was Chairman of the session noted that lawmaking was a tedious process, which required time, commitment and dedication of members.

Gbajabiamila said for Nigeria’s democracy to succeed, the legislature, as one of the tripods of governance, must play its assigned role in the Constitution and these require that lawmakers must be aware of the their task and perform them diligently.‎