Returning, newly-elected members differ on N’Assembly turnover

The argument of the re-elected federal lawmakers that large numbers of newly-elected members in the 8th National Assembly would rob the nation of quality legislation because of their inexperience has been countered by the latter. Some of the ranking senators and returning House of Representatives members who expressed fears that the high turnover would adversely affect their job in the incoming 8th National Assembly include Senate President, David Mark; his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu; and Senator Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North). Others include Senators Kabir Marafa (Zamfara Central), Ali Ndume (Borno South) and Akinade Fijabi, a ranking member of the House of Representatives. Investigations by our correspondent revealed that more than 70 per cent of the lawmakers in the current 7th National Assembly would not be inaugurated on June 4, having been defeated in the last general election. Mark had lamented that legislative activities would have a very slow start because most of the members are new and would require a lot of time to learn the procedure. He said, “Obviously, when people are new, it takes time to adjust and learn the procedure. It is even going to take them time to find their ways round the National Assembly building itself. It will be a very slow start.” Mark argued that if the returning members were more, things would start a lot more quickly but that a situation where more than 70 members are new would slow down legislative business. Ekweremadu, Lawan, Marafa, Ndume and Fijabi, in separate interviews, also supported the argument of Mark, adding that the nation would start all over again the capacity building for the incoming lawmakers instead of allowing experienced ones to continue in office. But newly-elected members, like Rt. Hon. Monsurat Sunmonu (APC Oyo Central); Samuel Anyanwu (Imo East); Ben Bruce (Bayelsa East); Stella Oduah (Anambra North) and Chike Okafor, representing Okigwe South Federal Constituency, disagreed with the ranking parliamentarians. They told our correspondent in separate interviews that many newly- elected members into the Senate had been in the House of Representatives while quite a number of the newly-elected House of Representatives members had had legislative experiences in the state Houses of Assembly. Sunmonu, who is the current Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, said the legislative proceedings and procedure are the same at both the state and federal levels, adding that it would not be difficult for many of them to catch up with the practice in the National Assembly. Stella Oduah, Bruce and Okafor also said that the one-week induction programme organised for them by the National Institute for Legislative Studies had also broadened their knowledge on various aspects of lawmaking. Okafor, a former Commissioner for Finance in Imo State, described as incorrect, insinuations that the huge presence of fresh lawmakers in both chambers would slow down legislative business due to their inexperience. He said rather than being liabilities, the newly elected parliamentarians in both chambers would be great assets to the nation. He argued that many of the newcomers were professionals from different fields of human endeavours and that quite a good number of them had had legislative experiences at state Houses of Assembly. The lawmaker-elect also said that since the National Assembly share similar House rules, it will not be difficult for the incoming federal lawmakers to utilise their experiences at the state levels and integrate themselves fully into the system. Okafor said, “I don’t believe the huge presence of fresh lawmakers will affect legislative activities at the federal parliament in the incoming 8th National Assembly. “We have quite a number of the elected lawmakers who already had legislative experiences at the lower houses, even as presiding officers. “Arguments, debates and rules are the same. We have our individual experiences and knowledge. We are going to enjoy robust and quality lawmaking session and there won’t be any setback in our activities. “We have high calibre of professionals from different fields now coming to the National Assembly and this will bring progress instead of setback. [url]http://www.punchng.com/news/returning-newly-elected-members-differ-on-nassembly-turnover[/url]