Indications have emerged that the House of Representatives is set to cut membership participation in committees’ activities to three per lawmaker.

The move is aimed at ensuring effective legislative performance.

Deputy Speaker, Sulaimon Lasun Yussuff, gave the indication on Tuesday in Abuja at a meeting with a delegation of the United Kingdom Parliament on bilateral exchange of good parliamentary practice and procedure.

Currently, some members belong to as high as six committees at the discretion of the speaker.

Lasun, while addressing the five-man delegation, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Wole Oladimeji, yesterday said the decision is to give room for optimal performance in their duties.

He noted that the committee system was one of the most developed parts of Nigeria’s parliament, as it was used to carry out oversight of the executive as well as attract federal presence to constituencies.

“That is why we are always in running battle with the executive. The only problem with our democracy is that we have not come to the stage where government will come out with a clear-cut economic policy.

According to him, “The executive in a democratic process cannot work in isolation, they must link up with the legislature, as we have had 17 years of unbroken democratic rule.”

Leader of the delegation, Kate Osamor, who is a member of the Labour Party in the UK Parliament, highlighted the importance of empowering women.

According to her, it is necessary that if a country wants to grow, it must empower women, saying “injecting women into parliament in 1997 made decision making better in UK parliament.”

Also speaking, David Mackintosh of the Conservative Party in UK Parliament, called for the abolition of some customs and cultural practices to ensure that child right and gender equality were prohibited.

Responding to the various concerns on gender equality and child’s right raised by the visiting UK parliamentarians, Nnena Elendu-Ukeje (Abia-PDP), assured that the house was committed to making a change in that direction.

She stressed that for a 17 year old democracy, Nigeria as a country was not doing bad, but however advocated greater engagement.