• Inflation Reduction Fund, National Food Bank Bills, others stuck
• Absence of clear legislative agenda ridiculing Akpabio-led Senate
• Rafsanjani advocates expertise, adequate consultations to boost legislation
• HURIWA: How N’Assembly’s failures result in trillions of naira losses
• Senate: Work on hardship reduction bills at advanced stages

As Nigerians continue to suffer from the painful economic policies of the Bola Tinubu-led administration, numerous bills that could provide much-needed relief are stuck in the National Assembly, while those of lesser importance to citizens’ welfare are prioritised.

Since the removal of subsidies on petroleum products and the floating of the naira against other currencies on May 29, 2023, inflation has surged, rendering the cost of living unaffordable for the average Nigerian. Additionally, palliative measures introduced by the federal government have been insufficient in relieving the economic hardship.

Meanwhile, the search for effective solutions to the ongoing economic crises continues, as several crucial bills, which have the potential to ease Nigerians’ suffering, remain neglected in the legislative process.

Although the lawmakers who sponsored the bills wished to attract accelerated legislative processes (like the bills that changed the National Anthem or the ongoing one seeking the establishment of Bola Ahmed Tinubu University), only 25 of the 447 bills introduced between June 2023 and September 2024 were passed. Of these 25, seven that could impact poverty reduction have yet to become law.

Among them is the Inflation Reduction Fund Bill sponsored by Senator Mukhail Abiru, a banker representing Lagos East Senatorial District. The legislation, also hanging, is titled: “A Bill for an Act to Make Emergency Economic Provisions to Restore Macroeconomic Stability through an Inflation Reduction Programme Involving the Liquidation of the Outstanding Central Bank of Nigeria’s Ways and Means.”

Another bill seeks a legal framework for transactions between large corporations and micro, small, and medium enterprises. The proposed legislation, titled the “Factoring Assignments and Receivables Financing Bill 2023”, will promote transparency, certainty, and adequate protection for creditors and debtors, ultimately enhancing access to capital and credit.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Tokunbo Abiru, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions, is designed to facilitate domestic and international trade.

There is also the National Food Bank (Establishment) Bill, 2024, sponsored by Senator Kalu Orji Uzor, which seeks to establish a specialised bank to ensure food security in the country. Sadly, the fate of this bill is hanging as vital legislative machinery has yet to be deployed to ensure its passage.

Others are the Development Planning and Project Continuity Bill, 2023, sponsored by Senator Barau, Jibrin; National Roads Fund Bill, 2023, Senator Ndubueze Patrick Chiwuba; Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023, sponsored by Senator Aliu Wadada.

A few senators have tried unsuccessfully through motions to draw attention to the people’s worsening condition and how other countries solved similar problems.

Former Senate Leader Mohammed Ali Ndume got the Senate to adopt a motion urging the federal government to introduce the Nigerian version of the Food Stamps initiative as an interim intervention to cushion the effects of food insecurity and shortage in the country.

Through the motion, the upper chamber also mandated the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to liaise with development partners and other relevant stakeholders, especially the Lagos Food Bank Initiative, which introduced the Temporary Food Assistance Programme (TEFAP) a few years ago, to work out practicable templates and implementable modalities for the actualisation of the programme via a public and private sector initiative.

However, that motion has since been abandoned as no pressure was put on the executive arm of government to implement it.

Meanwhile, the failure to develop a clear legislative agenda against which its priorities could be evaluated has depicted the Godswill Akpabio-led Senate as lacking focus. A legislative agenda usually contains plans for legislative actions to deepen democracy, improve governance, drive economic growth, and enhance citizens’ living conditions.

Amid the disconcerting lapse in focus, the leadership of the National Assembly has ironically continued to praise itself for having passed some bills to reduce hardship in Nigeria. According to the lawmakers, such bills include the students’ loan facility bill, the bills creating zonal development commissions, and even appropriation bills.

Besides, the two chambers of the National Assembly have become increasingly preoccupied with politically motivated motions and parliamentary investigations. These actions appear to be driven by the pursuit of financial gain rather than fulfilling the legislature’s fundamental role of providing checks and balances against inadequate governance. This trend poses a significant threat to the efficacy and integrity of the legislative process.

Furthermore, several factors hinder the National Assembly’s capacity to generate impactful and beneficial legislation. These include an undue emphasis on political posturing, insufficient legislative research, and the compromise of parliamentary investigations and oversight functions. These deficiencies undermine the legislature’s ability to serve the public interest effectively.

In exclusive interviews with active and former legislators, civil society organisations (CSOs) based in the parliament, and other astute observers of National Assembly events, The Guardian has learned that bills and other legislative tools, such as motions and parliamentary investigations, have significantly declined over the past 15 years.

For example, during this period, a disproportionate number of lawmakers have prioritised bills and motions that grant legal status to many non-viable academic institutions, such as universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, within their respective senatorial districts and constituencies. This trend reflects a misallocation of legislative effort and resources.

However, this prioritisation of seemingly parochial concerns appears to be at odds with the growing public discontent over the economic hardship caused by recent government policies. The National Assembly is facing mounting criticism for its role in approving these measures, which have exacerbated poverty and hunger across the nation. This apparent disconnect between the legislature’s actions and the pressing needs of the populace raises questions about its responsiveness and accountability.

The Senate has however explained that legislative actions are being taken to pass those bills intended to reduce economic hardships which arose from reform policies by the federal government.

Senate’s spokesman, Yemi Adaramodu, in an exclusive telephone interview with The Guardian, explained that some of the bills that would play roles in reducing poverty, hunger and economic pains are at various stages of legislative operations.

According to him, most of the bills have passed the first reading stage to either second or third reading.

“I can tell you that we have even passed some of the bills and have transmitted them to the House of Representatives for concurrence.” Adaramodu stressed.

The Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, told The Guardian, “Scholars of legislative studies are unanimous that a greater percentage of Nigerian lawmakers do not have a sound knowledge of the subject matter before undergoing the legislative process and do not consult competent consultants or departments that can assist in developing credible legislative proposals.”

According to him, the problem originates from the conceptualisation of legislative intervention or policy formulation, i.e., when the sponsor of a given bill conceives an idea of a particular legislative proposal.

Ideally, the lawmaker is expected to consider the “expertise of the subject matter for legislative proposal; whether the proposal is within the limits of National Assembly’s legislative powers (that is, under the Exclusive or Concurrent legislative list in the Constitution) that empowers the National Assembly or State Houses of Assembly to legislate on certain items: whether the proposal conforms to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Findings revealed that from 2014 to 2024 (10 years), the number of legislations, bills, motions, and investigations churned out by the National Assembly increased by over 100 per cent compared to what it recorded between 1999 and 2014.

Consequently, the quality of parliamentary proceedings has recorded very serious decadence as reflected in the dwindling performance of government.

For example, the efficiency rate of the 4th National Assembly (1999 to 2003), according to a Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG), is 87 per cent. The 5th National Assembly, which passed 112 bills, has a 65 per cent efficiency rate. Similarly, the 6th National Assembly has 77 per cent with 124 bills. The 7th National Assembly passed 143 bills with a much lower rate in terms of quality of legislation.

However, the 8th and 9th National Assemblies, which recorded the highest number of bills passed in the current democratic dispensation, witnessed the lowest efficiency rates in terms of impact on governance and people’s standard of living.

The Saraki-led 8th Assembly passed 515 bills, of which only 80 were assented to by the President. This earned that session of the National Assembly only a 23.8 per cent efficiency rate. The Ahmed Lawan-led 9th National Assembly got the President to sign 104 of its bills into law. However, it recorded a very low-efficiency rate because of the poor governance level of that administration.

The recent clash between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and some senators over the abuse of Senate rules in passing bills confirmed the desperation to use parliamentary positions to gain political relevance instead of making laws to serve the people’s best interests. The immediate past Senate Chief Whip, Mohammed Ali Ndume, wasted no time leading his colleagues to decry the unparliamentary practice.

“It is all clear to everybody that the questions of proper parliamentary representation in Nigeria are very low,” said Rafsanjani. “Many legislators who happen to be at the National Assembly or state Houses of Assembly do not have a grasp or understanding of their mandate. This is because of the commercialisation and privatisation of public offices, especially the elective and appointive positions in Nigeria.

He explained, “The governors and the president are in control of political parties. The president controls the federal while governors control their respective states. So, the whole essence of democracy itself, of which political parties are supposed to provide a vehicle for people on the basis of popular choice, is no longer the benchmark for getting people to be elected or appointed in leadership positions either in the Assembly or as appointees of the governor or president. So, we have already lost that ground. Therefore, there is a total disconnect between representation of people’s interests and personal interests as we see it today.”

A former House of Representatives member and chairman of the Committee on Privatisation, Tajudeen Yusuf, summed up his views: “The 10th Assembly, to me, has not been able to be what it should be because of the way it came. And it’s unfortunate too, I’m sorry, the quality of men and women who are being recruited from Nigerian society reflects where we are as a people and our values. So, they didn’t come from Ghana, they are Nigerians. The quality has been declining. Every year, those who are coming are ill equipped.”

The Abuja-based Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) strongly rebuked the current National Assembly, criticising its poor performance and blaming it for Nigeria’s governance challenges and widespread hardship.

HURIWA’s leader, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, stated: “The National Assembly is widely perceived, and rightly so, as an extension of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. The President installed the leadership of the lower and upper chambers, rendering the legislature complicit in the ongoing poor governance in Nigeria.”

He argued, “Since its resumption in June last year, the National Assembly has consistently rubber-stamped the administration’s harmful economic programmes and policies. These policies have directly contributed to the mass hunger, poverty, and cost-of-living crisis currently affecting the nation.”

Onwubiko condemned the National Assembly’s lack of accountability, alleging: “The National Assembly has lost its moral authority. Its members are beneficiaries of a corrupt system, having accepted luxury SUVs at a cost of billions of naira to taxpayers. Additionally, the Assembly approved the draconian policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), including the floating of the naira. This decision has weakened the national currency’s purchasing power, making essential commodities unaffordable for millions of Nigerian households already suffering from multidimensional poverty.”

He continued his criticism by highlighting the Assembly’s failure to exercise effective oversight: “The National Assembly neglected its oversight duties, allowing large-scale corruption within the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). This resulted in Nigeria losing $1.5 billion under the pretext of turnaround maintenance of the four publicly-owned refineries, none of which are operational.

“The Assembly also failed to prevent the unprecedented rise in fuel prices, which has further worsened poverty and hunger across the country. Consequently, the National Assembly has become more of a liability than an asset.”

Onwubiko accused the National Assembly of corruption. “The legislature has approved exorbitant allowances and constituency project budgets amounting to billions of naira,” he said. “It also sanctioned N25 billion for the upgrade of the Vice President’s residence and hundreds of billions for a new presidential jet, despite 10 jets in the presidential fleet.”

He characterised the seemingly harmonious relationship between the executive and legislative branches as a conspiracy against the Nigerian people: “This collaboration serves the interests of the elite, keeping the poor perpetually in chains.”

On the Assembly’s failure to hold the executive accountable, Onwubiko declared: “The executive controls the legislature, as its leadership is beholden to the President, violating the principle of separation of powers enshrined in Sections 4, 5, and 6 of the 1999 Constitution. The President effectively dictates the legislature’s actions, undermining and sabotaging the interests of the Nigerian people. The people must rise to defend their democracy.”

Onwubiko emphasised the National Assembly’s failure to address significant economic leakages, particularly within revenue-generating agencies, which have been blamed for the yearly loss of trillions of naira.