The World Of Rima Shawulu Kwewum

Thanks to my friend, Auwal Musa also known as Rafsanjani, I have been involved with the training of state legislators and community development bodies on how to interact and work with ach other. The legislature is weak and needs help. The three states that we have interacted with present us with a picture of people who really are at loss as what their role should be
I now know why it is so easy for 6 out of 24 members of the Plateau State House of Assembly to impeach their state governor; I also now know why corruption has taken over the affairs of state governments. Those not familiar with Nigeria may wonder what I am writing about?
At both Niger and Nasarawa states, only the Clerks of the two houses of Assembly and Committee Secretaries turned up for the training programme. Legislators in Nasarawa and Niger had the same reason for not coming. A member was wedding and they needed to be there!
Jigawa state was a completely a different case. The date for the interaction was fixed by the legislators. Then bingo! An €œORDER€ was received that they had to pass the budget that day!!! The time for the interaction was changed to enable them to come for the interaction. Yes of course, they did turn up, the speaker and all paraphernalia of office..
I was told, that the situation in the was an improvement. The former governor of the state, now Senator Saminu Turaki; who is standing trial for theft of billions of naira of government resources, used to send legislators on vacation € for as long as six months!!!!!!!!!!
A sleeping security man/watchman is as good as useless. So smart alec Turaki € did not have anyone watching over him. No one inspected the state government resources € so he took, by his confession, a whopping N10billion, and handed over to General Olusegun Obasanjo to prosecute the failed third term project € by which, they had unsuccessfully sought to amend the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to allow Obasanjo, and by extension, Turaki enjoy three € or even unlimited tenures.
The tragedy of the state legislatures is that, both the legislators and civil society groups do not know what role the legislature should play. This lack of capacity has given rise to the massive, and largely, unreported corruption existing in the states. What the EFCC and ICPC have complained about are a small fraction of the waste, fraud and corruption existing in the states. State governors have become not just laws unto themselves (or appropriately put out laws, they have made democracy unattractive at the state levels € and as witnessed, during the 2007 elections, they have so cornered security and federal agencies such as the INEC, that they effectively determined that they ensured that most Nigerians did not vote!
That we might all rise up to entrench democracy at the state level!!!!!!!!Only God knows how the Local Governments are faring

The major distinguishing feature of democracy that sets it apart form other systems of governance is the presence of a legislature. It is not merely a form of decoration for the system which colonial authorities had in Nigeria. The legislature, in a democracy, exists as an independent institution with its unique life and process, which deepen democracy and ultimately strengthen the polity. It arose as we shall see in the following pages from deep dissatisfaction with monarchy, a one man rule in which the King presumes to be God or answers to God only.

The legislature emerged as a result of the need for people to run their affairs. It arose from the need to make government accountable to the people. This need for accountability has ensured that all activities of parliament are open to public scrutiny. Parliamentary processes have evolved around openness and accountability. Parliamentary processes actually open up all governmental affairs for public scrutiny. The legislature as the representative of the people is also expected to follow up its legislations to make sure that they are obeyed or are flawless, hence the oversight function which gives the legislature the needed information to amend or strengthen or even abolish laws.

The National Assembly

The Powers and functions of the National Assembly are set out in sections 4 and 5 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as follows:

(1) The legislative powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be vested in a National Assembly for the Federation, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

(2) The National Assembly shall have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the federation or any part thereof with respect to any matter included in the Exclusive Legislative List set out in Part I of the Second Schedule to this Constitution.

(3) The power of the National Assembly to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation with respect to any matter included in the Exclusive Legislative List shall, save as otherwise provided in this Constitution, be to the exclusion of the Houses of Assembly of States.

(4) In addition and without prejudice to the powers conferred by subsection (2) of this section, the National Assembly shall have power to make laws with respect to the following matters, that is to say: -

(a) any matter in the Concurrent Legislative List set out in the first column of Part II of the Second Schedule to this Constitution to the extent prescribed in the second column opposite thereto; and

(b) any other matter with respect to which it is empowered to make laws in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

(5) If any Law enacted by the House of Assembly of a State is inconsistent with any law validly made by the National Assembly, the law made by the National Assembly shall prevail, and that other Law shall to the extent of the inconsistency be void.

The Constitution further provides for the following features:

Bicameral Sittings

The Senate and the House of Representatives sit separately. The Senate is presided over by the Senate President who is assisted by the Deputy Senate President. Members of the Senate elect them separately. The Senate sits separately. The House of Representatives on the other hand is presided over by the Speaker of the House. He is assisted of the Deputy Speaker. The two Houses hold joint sittings when need arises.

COMMITTEES:

All members of the Senate and House of Representative are members of at least a number of Committees. Most of the detailed work of legislation is undertaken by the Committees, which embark on investigative or fact finding tours, public Hearings among others.

WHO CAN INITIATE A LAW

Private Bill: Any person or Organisation within Nigeria may initiate a law. This may only be presented to the House or Senate through a members of the National Assembly in his or her own name. Only a member of the National Assembly can introduce legislation on the floor of the House or Seante. Legislators, however often introduce bills suggested by other individuals or organizations. Bills vary in length from a single paragraph to hundreds of pages.

Executive Bill: This is initiated by or from the President of the Federal Republic or any Department or Agency of the Federal Government. It must however bear the signature of the President and is usually submitted to both Chambers of the National Assembly.

Introduction Of A Bill:

Each bill is assigned a number, read by title only and sponsor.

Committee Consideration

Committee meetings are open to the public. (This is often not the case in Nigeria, but should be the practice except when for overriding public reasons certain information ought not to be made public)

A bill may be reported out of committee with one of the following reports: favourable, with amendments, favourable with committee substitutes, unfavourable, or, without opinion. As a matter of fact, a Committee may change completely the contens of a bill before reporting it out.

A committee can essentially kill a bill by failing to act on it.

Committees may summon any persons to appear before it.

Committees may propose public hearings to the House. Under the House rules of the period 1999-2003, only a full session of the House can authorize public hearing.

Second Reading:

The bill is read by title a second time and sent to the appropriate Committee

Third Reading and Passage

This motion is made by the House Leader and initiates floor debate on a bill.

Following debate and amendments, a final vote on the bill is taken.

To pass, a bill must be approved by a majority of the members present and voting.

What Happens Next?

If a bill is defeated, that is the end of it

If a bill passed in one chamber, it is sent to the other chamber where it follows the same procedure.

Both chambers must agree on the final form of each bill. If either house fails to concur in amendments made by the other, a conference committee of senators and Representatives must reconcile the difference.

Compromises agreed to by conference committees are then subject to approval by both houses.

President€„¢s Action

The President may sign a bill, permit it to become law without signing it, or veto it.

The veto may be overridden by a two thirds majority of the members of the two houses

The President has 30 days to act on a bill after it has been received. After thirty days the House leader may present the bill back to the national Assembly.

Resolutions

Besides bills the Legislature may express its feelings in simple, concurrent, or joint resolutions.

Simple resolutions require action by only one house. They are used to handle procedure, organization, or to express the sense of the chamber on a particular matter. Frequently, the House or Senate pass a simple resolution to adjourn in honour or memory of an individual.

Why such an elaborate process?

To understand what constitutes parliamentary process and responsibilities it is necessary to look at the origins of the parliament. We will, for the purpose of this presentation consider the origins of the British Parliament.

History of Parliament

The Parliament of the United Kingdom has developed over hundreds of years from the group of nobles that once advised the King of England to the present day Parliament of the Monarch, House of Lords and House of Commons.

Starting in 1215, when the Magna Carta was signed by King John, there was a period of nearly 400 years when, from time to time, Parliament and the Monarch would disagree, sometimes violently, about which had the final say in decisions. In the 17^th Century there was a Civil War in England when battles were fought between armies representing the King (the €˜Cavaliers€„¢) and Parliament (the €˜Roundheads€„¢). Parliament won and King Charles I was eventually executed, although his son, Charles II, was restored to the throne a few years later.

The struggle between the Monarch and Parliament came to an end in 1689 when the Bill of Rights was passed. The Bill of Rights established binding principles including the following:

(1) No law could be made or suspended without parliamentary consent;

(2) Taxation or levying money for the use of the crown without parliamentary consent is illegal

3) Illegality of raising an Army without parliamentary consent; and

(4) Freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in parliament cannot be questioned or impeached in any court or place outside parliament.

The United States of America borrowed the principles of the bill of Rights to create its constitution whose main strength is the separation of powers between the three branches of Government. These branches are first, the Executive, which comprises only of the president (ministers or Secretaries are his aides) Second, the Congress, which is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and third the judiciary. It may be noted that under the system in the United States, the Vice president presides over the Senate. In reality though, the Vice president rarely goes to the Senate.

The Congress in the United States lays down (initiates) policies of Government or approves policies from the Executive branch and the President implements approved policies of Government.

Fob James, a former Governor in the United States explained the practice in these words:

€œThe legislature should be the political body which decides most of the fundamental issues in American society€¦the legislature is that body closest to the people€.

The extent to which the Congress leads the other arms of Government is dependent on how close it is to the people. The practice in Nigeria as in the USA provides the means for legislators to be close to the people. They have constituency offices funded by the government. This explains why public opinion polls have become so important in the politics of the United States of America. The press too, owes its relevance, as the fourth estate of the realm, to its role of opening up Governmental intrigues and secrecies to the public.

In order to ensure that the people control affairs in the United States, the constitution gives a lot of powers to the Congress. These include power over the use of armed Forces, and the national Treasury.

In the same way, both Constitutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1979 and 1999) gave the National Assembly almost absolute powers over the National treasury and matters of prosecution of war with another country. As a matter of fact, the

National Assembly regulates how the President functions as Commander-In-Chief. This indeed is the essence of democracy, which, as we all know, is defined as government of the people, by the people, and for the people. The people, at regular intervals, in our case, every four years, through adult suffrage choose new leaders. The leaders are expected to work for the good of the people.

This is why in our system, as with the system in the United States of America, it is only the legislature that can impose sanctions on holders of offices. For, instance only the legislature can remove a member of the legislative house from office; or the law courts, if a case, of criminal nature or any dispute arises. The only other way to remove a legislator is through a referendum. And, of course, while the legislature can impeach (remove from office) the President, no matter how dissatisfied the President is with the legislature, he cannot dissolve it. Indeed, where the executive disagrees with the legislature, and the President vetoes any bill, the National Assembly can brush aside (over ride) such a veto. This can only be done through two-thirds majority vote in both chambers. For any institution or organization to be regarded as independent it must be reporting to the National Assembly the same way as the Auditor general reports to the National Assembly.

Specifically, the 1999 Constitution gives the control of the resources of the State to the National Assembly. Section 81 provides as follows:

€œ(1) All revenues or other moneys raised or received by the Federation (not being revenues or other moneys payable under this Constitution or any Act of the National Assembly into any other public fund of the Federation established for a specific purpose) shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.

(2) No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation except to meet expenditure that is charged upon the fund by this Constitution or where the issue of those moneys has been authorised by an Appropriation Act, Supplementary Appropriation Act or an Act passed in pursuance of Section 81 of this Constitution.

(3) No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unless the issue of those moneys has been authorised by an Act of the National Assembly.

(4) No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly.

1. (1) The President shall cause to be prepared and laid before each House of the National Assembly at any time in each financial year estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the Federation for the next following financial year.

The National Assembly is vested with others powers namely:

Section 88 grants powers to the National Assembly to investigate any matter under which it has powers to legislate.

Section 89 grants it powers to summon any person in Nigeria to give evidence (this includes the President of the Federal Republic) or procure any document.

In the exercise of this, it has the powers to issue warrants to compel attendance and the warrant can be executed by any member of the Nigerian Police force or ANY PERSON authorize in that behalf by the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

It is from here that the concepts and practice of oversight functions can be understood. During the legislative period of 1999-2003, some people argued that the National Assembly did not have any oversight functions since the word oversight is not in the constitution. As far as they are concerned the National Assembly did not have any right to adjust budgetary proposals of the President. By the time it was conceded National Assembly members could perform oversight functions, another resistance arose, namely that presidential permission ought to be sought and granted before appointees of the President could disclose information to the National Assembly. Eventually National Assembly could go on oversight inspections. There have been several confusions as to what oversight function really means. Several people see oversight functions as just going on inspection of sites, or visits which are sponsored by the affected. There have been occasions when legislators have attempted to give direct orders to Ministries or departments. Certainly oversight does not include:

1. Going as a group or individuals to assigned department or Ministries to seek for favour , including contracts

2. deciding on who gets what contract or employment

What then is the oversight?

Performance Evaluation: The oversight functions consist essentially, among others of examination of the activities of the agency or department in its entirety, to ascertain whether it has achieved the goals set for it. In other words, the examination of the effectiveness efficiency and adequacy of the administration of the department or agency. It also seeks to study the processes within such an organization to ascertain whether due process of the law has been followed.

Evaluation Report: A performance evaluation report with clearly spelt out methodology and findings is written and studied by the committee. Since democracy is essentially and open process, the findings ought to be sent back to the effected agency / institution for its comments.

Submission of Report: A final report (including the response of the effected agency) is made and submitted to the parliament.

Recommendation: As clearly stated in the 1999 constitution, the purpose of such oversight functions is to improve the law and legal process. Proposed statutes or charges being made to the law arise from such studies. It must be clearly stated that no parliamentary oversight function is said to have been concluded without the submission of a comprehensive report to the parliament. Oversight functions are routine process of the legislature.

Conditions implementing oversight functions

When the National Assembly was inaugurated in 1999 the atmosphere was not conducive for its proper functioning. The situation was compounded by the fact that there was no precedence and the bitter conflicts-which resulted in the change of the leaderships of the national assembly, did not provide the atmosphere for proper discussions. The rancor provided cover for members to shy away from their constitutional and legislative functions.

The National Assembly itself did not have staff with the proper training and qualifications to handle legislative processes. Secondly, members of the national assembly largely failed to employ staff with the requisite experience and training to be their legislative aids. Some did not even employ and staff. The National Assembly Service Commission which was legislated into being in the year 2000 had remedied the situation by recruiting new staff and requiring legislators to employ qualified staff-whose tenure security and employments are now guaranteed.

The National Assembly had provided for constituency officers-and make money available for this. Running a constituency office is not luxury. Constituency offices must not be just decoration for members. They need to be set up and put to proper sue.

Further more the practice in the period 1999-2003 was to exclude legislative aides from committee meetings. They where reduced to bag carrying staff, and not as research assistants.

Conclusion

The leadership of the National Assembly must always remember the reasons why the parliaments arose in the first place: to curtail executive [powers which had retarded rather than strengthen societies. A strong and vibrant parliament which has an independent mind of its own assures the whole society and the outside world that democracy is on course. A strong and independent parliament in our case assures the international community that resources are being properly managed. Even the World Bank, IMF, EU and other multilateral organizations are investing in strong parliaments.

References and Notes

1. Declaration of Rights, February 13, 1689

House of Commons Information Office,

http://www.parliament.uk

2. House of Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk

3. Governor Fob James, separation of powers- the cornerstone of American democracy, delivered at the American Legislature Council address,August,1995; http://www.positive atheism.org/writ/jamesalec.htm.Vanessa, A Bard and Mark Hurtwitz

4. Can the Supreme Court €œGo Public€? The influence of the Supreme Court on congress.

5. http://www.unpan.org/information/technical highlights/participants.htm

6. Parliamentary Supremacy, judicial independence. Latimer House Guidelines for the commonwealth. 19 June 1998.

7. Rules of Proceedings of the House of Representatives 1999-2003

8. Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

Paper presented at Capacity Building Retreat for Forum for Democracy and Good Governance, at Confluence Hotel Lokoja, Kogi State. 5-6 September, 2004.

(All correspondences to:rshawulu@gmail.com

Since British overlords awarded independence to Nigeria in 1960, the legislature has hardly featured as a stable national institution. Though, there have been about five legislative Houses: 1960 € 1964, 1964- -1966, 1979 € 1983, 1983; 1991 € 1993 (under military rule) and now 1999 € 2002, the institution has remained the most unknown, misunderstood and neglected of all the institutions of democratic governance. Its history actually symbolises the story of democracy in Nigeria. The immediate post independence era had one full session and after a much disputed election and accompanying violence, the military took over in 1966. The House did not complete its tenure.

From 1979 to 1983, the legislature existed under a new atmosphere € a presidential system. In a sharp departure from the parliamentary system inherited from the British the legislative (made up of the two chambers of the Senate and House of Representatives) was SEPARATE from the Executive Branch. A second legislative House (National Assembly) was inaugurated in October , 1983. However, on December 31, 1983, it was disbanded in a putsch headed by Major General Muhammadu Buhari.

Under intense pressure to return the country to democratic governance, the military government under General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, which overthrew the Buhari government, organised series of elections in 1991. The elections saw the inauguration of State Governors, State legislative Houses and the National Assembly. The State Houses of Assembly were answerable to the Governor, who reported to the Military President.

The National Assembly was answerable to the military Head of State, who had earlier given instructions on what the Assembly could discuss and what it could not. Shortly before the Assembly was disbanded in 1993, the military, which had handed over power to civilian nominees called the Interim National Government (ING), took over the reins of power again.

It instructed the Assembly, in the words of the then Senate President Ameh Ebute

We nevertheless went back to the Senate but before we went back to the Senate, the then Commander of the Brigade of Guards, Major General Bashir Magashi, informed me that we should not discuss anything about what was happening (the Abacha coup) and I said, what? How could you think it was possible for us not to discuss the handover or the so-called resignation of Shonekan? He said, no, that was the instruction he received from above, and if we don€„¢t want to be rough handled by the boys, €œdo not discuss it€.

This was not a novel practice. The British Colonial authorities had Legislative Houses, which did not have powers. They were rubber stamps, whose existence merely decorated the system. Besides the decoration, the colonial authorities sought to satisfy the yearnings of popular participation without relinquishing control.

A few points stand out from the above narration. First, an independent legislature has not really operated in Nigeria before now. Second, in Nigeria€„¢s 42 year of existence as an independent state the legislature has lived for only twelve years. Third, it has been the target of military takeovers because it is the only feature of governance that distinguishes democracy from authoritarianism. Fourth, arising out of the above is the fact that the legislature possesses the least capacity to perform its functions, in terms of resources and precedents.

This problem of lack of capacity is compounded by the fact that government has operated for about thirty years without the legislature and so very few people (even those within the legislature) know why such an expensive institution should be maintained. Both members of the legislative Houses, the public and Executive are at loss as to what the responsibilities and authority of the legislature should be. With time, this confusion is likely to clear and the legislature, if democracy thrives long enough, will become the €œmainstay€ of democracy, in both perception and reality.

The current National Assembly was born into controversy. The President was sworn in on May 29, 1999, and he did not proclaim the inauguration of the National Assembly till June 3, 1999. In the glare of national television, the President inspected the uncompleted National Assembly premises to justify the delay in the issuance of the proclamation. What, of course, this showed was that the departing military authorities had not prepared the necessary infrastructures for the take off of the legislature. This delay in the inauguration, even for good reason, planted seeds of discord and mistrust. When the National Assembly was finally inaugurated, members were lodged in hotels at government expense. Government then spent on the average about N30, 000.00 each day on each member of the National Assembly.

In their wisdom, (some may say, naivety) members chose to collect fifteen thousand Naira (N15, 000.00) Daily Tour Allowance (DTA) € already determined and fixed by the government bureaucracy rather than live in hotels. This decision seemed to have offended certain interests in the hotel business and the bureaucracy. The information was leaked to the press and, of course, it did not go down well with poverty-stricken electors, some of whom did not have food to eat. It was believed to be reckless and callous to collect fifteen thousand Naira everyday, the equivalent of the monthly wages of a senior officer in the Federal Civil service

Shortly after, members of the National Assembly decided to have furnishing allowances € paid directly to them rather than allow government contractors furnish the houses at very high fees. Senators who have bigger apartments were paid three million five hundred thousand Naira (N3.5M) only while members of the House collected two million, five hundred thousand Naira (N2.5M) only. The public, which did not know that government had planned to award the contracts for the furnishing of the Houses for higher figures, was incensed Government had earlier planned to award the contacts for thr furnishing of the houses of Senators at eleven million Naira per House and eight million Naira for each House of the members of the House of Representatives.

For more than a year the public kept talking about this. Of course, the public did not know that civil servants of the rank of Assistant Directors and above spend almost four million Naira or more for furnishing their houses.

Then came the 2000 Appropriation Act; the National Assembly € which still lacks facilities for operations € increased the budgetary allocations for the Assembly. The public was again angry. The fact that the National Assembly needed offices, computers, cars, etc, did not matter. Increasingly, the Assembly came to be seen as an irritant and unnecessary baggage or decoration of the new system of administration. Largely because the budget was submitted late and the procedures for passage are tedious, the public became very angry with the National Assembly for the late passage of the budget. This was because, non release of funds for projects and government business was attributed to the fact that the budget had not yet being passed. However, even when the budget was passed it was not implemented. Funds were not released for projects budgeted for, and released for projects not provided for in the appropriation acts.

Of course, the current National Assembly was treading on a well-trodden path of controversy over money and perks of office. Most of the 1979 €1983 legislative period was spent on controversy on the wages of legislators. The framers of the 1999 constitution took cognisance of this problem and removed powers to fix wages of legislators from the National Assembly to the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission.

What role should the National Assembly play?

The controversies generated by the budget of 1999 raised several questions of what role should the National Assembly play. Several commentators thought that the National Assembly should give its consent to whatever the President proposed. Some even thought, and still argue that the National Assembly should not increase or adjust budgetary proposition of the President.

However, Parliament arose from the fact that the King or Monarch needed to be guided in the United Kingdom. As early as the 14th century, under King Edward 111 (1327 €77) it had been accepted in England that there should be no taxation without parliamentary consent. In the 17th century , when parliament and the King could not agree on who controls troops during the Irish rebellion, the resulting tension led to the execution of King Charles. When the Monarchy was restored in 1668, the Bill of Rights, which established the authority of the parliament over the King, was passed. The English Parliament has two chambers: the House of Lords also referred to as the Upper Chambers and the House of Commons. At the beginning, the House of Lords, which is constituted by the nobility could veto bills or block actions of the elected House of Commons. This has changed since and the House of Lords is more or less ceremonial and by appropriate legislations, the House of Commons superiority over it has been established.

The Bill of Rights established binding principles including the following:

(1) No law could be made or suspended without parliamentary consent;

(2) Taxation or levying money for the use of the

crown without parliamentary consent is illegal

(3) Illegality of raising an Army without parliamentary consent; and

(4) Freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in parliament cannot be questioned or impeached in any court or place outside parliament.

The United States of America borrowed the principles of the bill of Rights to create its constitution whose main strength is the separation of powers between the three branches of Government. These branches are first, the Executive, which comprises only of the president (ministers or Secretaries are his aides) Second, the Congress, which is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and third the judiciary. It may be noted that under the system in the United States, the Vice president presides over the Senate. In reality though, the Vice president rarely goes to the Senate.

The Congress in the United States lays down (initiates) policies of Government or approves policies from the Executive branch and the President implements approved policies of Government.

Fob James, a former Governor in the United States explained the practice in these words:

€œThe legislature should be the political body which decides most of the fundamental issues in American society€¦the legislature is that body closest to the people€.

The extent to which the Congress leads the other arms of Government is dependent on how close it is to the people. This explains why public opinion polls have become so important in the politics of the United States of America. The press too, owes its relevance, as the fourth estate of the realm, to its role of opening up Governmental intrigues and secrecies to the public.

In order to ensure that the people control affairs in the United States, the constitution gives a lot of powers to the Congress. These include power over the use of armed Forces, and the national Treasury.

In the same way, both Constitutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1979 and 1999) gave the National Assembly almost absolute powers over the National treasury and matters of prosecution of war with another country. As a matter of fact, the National Assembly regulates how the President functions as Commander-In-Chief. This indeed is the essence of democracy, which, as we all know, is defined as government of the people, by the people, and for the people. The people, at regular intervals, in our case, every four years, through adult suffrage choose new leaders. The leaders are expected to work for the good of the people.

Presidential democracy also provides for a legislature, independent of those who regularly administer the affairs of the State. Power, it is said, in democracy, lies with the people. During the periods between elections, the legislature acts on behalf of the people. In other words, the sovereignty of the people is exercised on its behalf by the legislature.

This is why in our system, as with the system in the United States of America, it is only the legislature that can impose sanctions on holders of offices. For, instance only the legislature can remove a member of the legislative house from office; or the law courts, if a case, of criminal nature or any dispute arises. The only other way to remove a legislator is through a referendum. And, of course, while the legislature can impeach (remove from office) the President, no matter how dissatisfied the President is with the legislature, he cannot dissolve it. Indeed, where the executive disagrees with the legislature, and the President vetoes any bill, the National Assembly can brush aside (over ride) such a veto. This can only be done through two-thirds majority vote in both chambers.

As can be seen from the above, the National Assembly possesses enormous powers, which have not been fully exercised in this learning period. It is obvious that, the 1999 Constitution positions the National Assembly as the senior partner in the democratic enterprise

The Honourable Speaker captured the Constitutional provisions when he stated:

€œTHE Constitution of the Federal Republic (1999) is the Bible or Koran of this democratic dispensation. It is the supreme Law of the land € which can only be breached at the peril of the person breaching it. Sections 80 to 89 give wide powers to the legislature (at the National level) over the finances of the Federation.

Section 80 (3) states as follows: No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unless the issue of those moneys has been authorised by an Act of the National Assembly.

* No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly

Section 85 (2) directs the Auditor General of the Federation to submit his report to the National Assembly.

Section 88 grants powers to the National Assembly to investigate any matter under which it has powers to legislate.

Section 89 grants it powers to summon any person in Nigeria to give evidence (this includes the President of the Federal Republic) or procure any document.

In the exercise of this, it has the powers to issue warrants to compel attendance and the warrant can be executed by any member of the Nigerian Police force or ANY PERSON authorise in that behalf by the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Besides its powers over the budget, the National Assembly, in the 1999 Constitution, is vested with approving authority of all decisions of Government. The policies and general directions of government are laid down by the National Assembly and the Executive Arm of government and the Judiciary to some extent implement and enforce such decisions.

€œFor instance Local Governments created by the State Houses of Assembly can only become legitimate Local Governments when the National Assembly approves them. (Section 8); State creation and adjustments of State boundaries can only be done by the National Assembly; treaties and external agreements need to be legitimised the legislature (section 12) As a matter of fact, bodies that are independent are independent only to the extent that they report to the National Assembly.€

Despite these shortcomings the House of Representatives has been performing its duties effectively. (See Appendix for full report) The next legislative House is likely to be stormy or more vibrant.

Increasingly Nigerians are recognizing the importance of the Legislature and the role that it should play in the life of the polity. The flurry of commentaries, often very critical and negative, as well as the impeachment threat resolution of the House of Representatives appears to have awakened interest in the legislature. Though, the yardstick for measuring performance does not exist now, Nigerians believe that the Legislature could have done better. Sometimes the same persons saying that the legislature has not performed well argue in the same breadth that the national Assembly has not cooperated fully with the Executive, that it has been too confrontational.

The Civil society groups, which should have €œhelped€ the National Assembly, are still transiting from their €œcriticism role€ to €œParticipatory role€ of advocating and motivating legislators to expand democratic space. They are yet to see themselves fully as partners with the legislature.

In spite of all its shortcomings and the strident criticisms against it, the major challenge of the legislature in the next few years would be to assert itself, impose its relevance, prove that it really represents the people and acquire all the powers that are written down in the constitution for it. So far, it has been limited by perceptions, lack of resources and its own capacity.

The biggest challenge of the legislature is the establishment of legitimacy among the people. The connection between the legislature and the people is the only reason why, over the years, it has acquired more power than other arms of government.

Institutionally this is possible because of the pluralism of parliaments as it often reflects the pluralism of the polity. Improving the quality of representation is therefore a challenge for the people, and this can also be more effectively done, when there is flexibility in the delineation of constituencies. The establishment of constituency offices by Legislators at the National level ought to be encouraged and enforced. State Legislators ought to be accorded the same privileges.

The civil Society groups are an important link in the chain between the legislature and the people. The civil Society groups need to empower the constituents to ensure that constituency offices are opened € and are functional all year round. The legislature needs the civil Society groups to disseminate information of its activities among vocal members of society. Of course, the tools of information and communications Technology (ICT) make interaction very possible at both mass and individual levels. Live video and audio streams, chat rooms, discussion boards and emails make interaction possible and cheap. Besides, regular town hall constituency consultations are necessary for proper representation.

There is also the need for the legislature to enhance its capacity. Those elected as legislators need to know the laws of the land (or educate themselves on the laws) as they affect their constituents. Capacity building needs not be foreign agencies driven; these ought to be major focus. Activities to enhance capacity building include, training, workshops, seminars, field visits and parliamentary exchanges, human resources development and the dissemination of best practices and lessons learned. The current legislature has suffered greatly from the lack of staff and as well as facilities such as office spaces. These need to be put in place because, the quality of every legislature is dependent on the quality of its aides- who conduct research, write memos, conduct opinion polls, keep in touch with constituents and help direct the legislator.

Of course all these require funding which has been a major problem. There is the need to improve the funding to the legislature-and also for the funds available to be applied in a manner that greater good would be achieved.

CONCLUSION

It is important to note that every society gets the legislature it wants to have. But the legislature may be able to change the society. The people need to know that the contact between them and the elected MUST BE CONTINOUS. The people make representatives responsible. Those that do not want to be responsible can be made to face the publics€„¢ big stick- that is recall.

NOTES

1. Declaration of Rights, February 13, 1689

House of Commons Information Office,

http://www.parliament.uk

2. House of Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk

3. Governor Fob James, separation of powers- the cornerstone of American democracy, delivered at the American Legislature Council Address August, 1995;http://www.positive atheism.org/writ/jamesalec.htm.

Vanessa, A Bard and Mark Hurtwitz

4. Can the Supreme Court €œGo Public€? The influence of the Supreme Court on congress.

5. http://www.unpan.org/information/technical highlights/participants.htm

6. Parliamentary Supremacy, judicial independence. Latimer House Guidelines for the commonwealth. 19 June 1998.