ANALYSIS: How Nigeria’s House of Reps fared under Tajudeen Abbas in one year

Legislative Agenda: How has the House fared?

To properly assess the 10th House of Representatives at the end of its first year, it may be helpful to use the legislative agenda it adopted in November, The document sets the legislative priorities and goals of the House, and timelines for achieving them.

The agenda has eight thematic areas covering the economy, security, reforms, and other issues. It contains a four-year plan broken down into short-term, medium-term, and long-term. The short term is from 2023-2024, the medium term covers 2024-2025, while the long term plan covers 2025-2027.

Over the past couple of years, legislative agendas have become somewhat of a cliché, but the process of producing this particular legislative agenda gave room for positive expectations. To develop the document, the House held a town hall meeting to collate Nigerians’ views.

Agenda One: Rule of Law, Judicial Reforms, Anti-Corruption, E-Parliament

The first agenda of the House is strengthening good governance under which rule of law and human rights; anti-corruption; improving national delivery systems, and executive-legislative engagement fall. The agenda seems very broad and covers different sectors around judicial reforms, anti-corruption, transparency and accountability at the legislature, and human rights.

House of Reps (PHOTO CREDIT: @HouseNGR)

Judicial Reforms

The House promised to strengthen the process of selecting judges, provide legislative measures to require the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) to conduct written tests and interviews rather than the National Judicial Council and support full implementation of financial independence for the judiciary. There is no evidence that any of these promises have been fulfilled.

In terms of the financial independence of the judiciary, the agenda was not specific. Currently, the federal judiciary does not have a problem with financial autonomy; that problem is peculiar to states, and nothing has changed in the last year regarding financial autonomy. Therefore, it is fair to say that that particular promise has not been implemented.

So far, no major reform on the judiciary has come from the legislature; most of the actions have been taken by the executive. The bill to increase the remuneration of judicial officers was sent by the executive, while President Bola Tinubu has also nominated more Supreme Court justices to fill the bench as recommended by the constitution.

The judicial review also includes a human rights component. However, within the last year, the current government has been abusing the fundamentals of democracy through the harassment of journalists using the amended Cybercrime Act. In the last year, several journalists were abducted by security operatives over stories. A PREMIUM TIMES reporter, Emmanuel Agbo, was invited by the police over a story that was yet to be published.

Despite the outrage, the lawmakers never moved a motion to condemn the act of the security operatives. The spokesperson of the House, Akin Rotimi, said in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES that the lawmakers did not take any action because the media did not submit a petition to the House for consideration and further legislative action.

However, Mr Rotimi’s argument may not be supported by existing realities: one, the clampdown on journalists was widely reported, and often lawmakers use reports to move motions on national issues; two, Speaker Tajudeen appeared to have backed such clampdowns during a press conference held in solidarity with his predecessor over a story, where he urged law enforcement agencies to use the Cybercrime Act to prosecute “peddlers of fake news.” In recent months, police and other security operatives have used the Cybercrime Act as a blanket law to go after journalists.

Anti-Corruption

In the agenda, the House promised to tackle corruption through strong legislative oversight of ministries, departments, and agencies. The plan is to pass the Whistleblower Protection Bill within the first year of the House, develop technology to streamline House oversight functions, ensure regular publication of oversight reports, findings, and recommendations, and ensure timely submission of reports by committees, including quarterly and seasonal reports.

While all these ideas seem laudable on paper, almost all the targets set by the House have not been met. The Whistleblower Protection Bill has yet to be passed. No technology has been developed to streamline the activities of committees, many of whom have been operating in silos without coordination.

Most committees that got referrals on different motions and bills seldom comply with the timeline. At the same time, many don’t even submit any reports to the House for consideration, an action that clearly violates the Standing Rules and the Constitution.

Nothing significant indicates a deliberate attempt by the House to fight corruption.

In a series of investigative reports, PREMIUM TIMES exposed a House committee for using investigative hearings to extort MDAs. Despite these investigations, the House never took action against the individuals allegedly involved or published the reports of the called hearings.

E-Parliament

This is one agenda that every successive administration has promised but failed to implement. Based on the legislative agenda, within the first year, the House is expected to digitalise parliamentary records, including bills, debates, committee reports, and legislative archives, for easy access to historical data.

All available records show that the House has done nothing significant to improve access to this information, other than the usual sharing of order papers and notice papers on social media and WhatsApp channels. Even the official website of the National Assembly is very scanty. As of 21 June 2024, the last content posted on the website was on 14 March 2024. One cannot find details of bills and motions on that website.

In terms of the digitalisation of the legislative chamber, activities are still paper-based, while the Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Business has not been able to keep track of motions and bills. One of the arguments made for the renovation of the two chambers was to digitalise the chambers to make room for e-parliament. But despite the billions of naira spent on renovations, activities are still carried out in the old manner. Decisions on important bills are taken using the old and crude voice vote system.

Agenda Two: Improving National Security

In the agenda, the lawmakers set five major targets: improving accountability in the security sector, counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency, inter-agency collaboration and improved intelligence sharing, police reforms, and the reform of National Security and Intelligence.

The House correctly stated that insecurity in the country has reduced investor confidence, reduced productivity, and led to a large displacement of citizens. To address the problem, the lawmakers promised to put adequate legislative measures in place to stem insecurity in the country.

Improving Accountability in the Security Sector

The lawmakers identified a lack of transparency and accountability in the utilisation of resources in the security sector. The House promised to, within its first year, enact a law mandating a more detailed budget of the military, containing a breakdown of all items that must be made available to the public. The law would also mandate a digital platform for tracking the budget of the military and mandate the security sector to submit periodic financial reports to relevant agencies.

While the National Assembly has passed the DICON Bill, which was assented to by President Tinubu, many of the listed items have not been accomplished. For instance, most House Committees held budget sessions for the military behind closed doors, ignoring their own agenda on transparency. Also, no public digital platforms for tracking military procurement have been provided.

Counter-Terrorism/Inter-Agency Collaboration

Within the first year, the House was expected to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act to provide guidelines for the prosecution of terror suspects and also to establish a framework for international collaboration in the fight against terrorism. Additionally, it aimed to enact a law to domesticate the ECOWAS Convention on small arms and light weapons and to amend the Cybercrime Act.

The House has met two of these targets. The Cybercrime Act has been amended and signed by the president, and the Small and Light Weapons Bill has also been passed by the National Assembly. However, it is unclear if the House has provided the promised guidelines for prosecuting terror suspects.

On the intelligence-sharing front, the lawmakers pledged to pass legislation to create a centralised hub for intelligence-sharing, but this promise has yet to be fulfilled.

Police Reforms

The House’s plans for police reforms can be broken down into three components: state police, community police/reform of the structure of the existing federal police, and mainstreaming human rights.

The last part of the agenda is critical, particularly for young people who participated in the EndSARS protests of 2020.

Regarding community policing, the lawmakers stated they would, within the first year, review the current system of policing to strengthen community policing and to allow zonal police commands to take prompt action on policing issues. However, there is no record to show that this has been done.

For the dialogue on state policing, the House has fulfilled this promise with a dialogue organised on state policing where all stakeholders in the country deliberated on the merits and demerits of adopting state policing. Among lawmakers, the state policing bill seems to be gaining traction.

The last component is the mainstreaming of human rights in police operations. There is no evidence to suggest that the lawmakers have done anything significant to address the disregard for human rights by the police.

Overall, the House cannot pat itself on the back regarding the security sector. Security-related motions have become a daily routine, yet insecurity has not abated in the country.

Some weeks ago, the lower legislative chamber adopted a resolution that all security-related motions should be compiled and sent to the Office of the National Security Adviser for implementation.

Emmanuel Amiemeoghene, an expert on peacebuilding, told PREMIUM TIMES that the conversation on security must be localised to better understand the challenges fuelling insecurity in the country. He stated that motions and deliberations in Abuja without dialogue at the local level have been the missing link in efforts to address insecurity.

“There is a disconnect between the response mechanism from top to bottom. We have not seen coordination that would address insecurity in Nigeria because, to the best of my knowledge, legislators have failed to complement some of the efforts of civil society organisations in local communities,” he said.

Agenda Three: Law Reform

Under this law reform agenda, the process involves a total review of all existing legislation to ensure efficiency. Some of the laws have been identified as obsolete, while others require amendment.

This section is divided into reviews of the constitution, local government reforms, the role of traditional rulers in the Constitution, judicial and legal system reforms, electoral reforms, and others.

In the first year, the House stated it would enact a law to streamline the alteration of the 1999 Constitution and provide a timeline for the exercise. However, lawmakers have yet to take this step. In fact, such a step may offend Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution, which stipulates the process for amending the constitution.

Still on the review of the constitution, within the first year, the House promised to review the items in the exclusive legislative list. It has yet to do this. Instead, individual lawmakers have been sponsoring bills on the constitution alteration exercise. In some instances, some of the bills are contradictory. For instance, while the Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, and his group are pushing for a change to the parliamentary system, Ikenga Ugochinyere, a lawmaker from Imo State, is leading another group pushing a single-term presidency bill.

Additionally, the lawmakers proposed passing the National Electoral Offences Commission Bill within the first year of the House. Like other promises made, this has not been fulfilled.

In general, most of the to-do items in this agenda have not been implemented by the lawmakers.

Agenda Four: Economic Growth and Development

Economic development is one major area in which Nigerians are looking to the National Assembly for intervention amid the unending cost-of-living crisis that has gripped the nation.

Workers have seen their earnings eroded by inflation, and the ongoing negotiation over the national minimum wage may not address the high cost of basic food items in the market.

In the agenda, the lawmakers highlighted 13 actions they plan to take to address economic growth and development within the first year of the House. Some of the items listed include legislation on the business environment and collaboration with the executive on policies. The interventions are to cover the blue economy, economic diversification, business environment, economic restructuring, and development of technology.

A review of the 13 points shows that the House has not taken concrete actions that could be measured. For instance, they promised to examine all existing legislation and, where there are gaps, introduce reforms to encourage public-private partnerships for infrastructure development, investment projects, and service delivery. However, no sufficient action was taken in the first year.

Meanwhile, the lawmakers’ decision to buy luxury vehicles in the middle of this economic hardship and increase their budget to over N344 billion has further alienated them from many citizens.

Agenda Five: Social Sector Reform and Development

Under this agenda, the lawmakers made ambitious promises that span all sectors. From healthcare to education to transportation, they promised to direct resources to achieve laudable milestones.

Universal Basic Education/Secondary Education/Technical Education/Almajiri:

The lawmakers promised to prioritise the allocation of resources to basic and secondary institutions and agencies, and improve funding for the provision of basic facilities such as classrooms, libraries, and toilets in every UBE school.

The promise to prioritise allocation to basic and secondary education is very vague as the plan did not contain any indicator to measure implementation. Additionally, both primary and secondary education are under the control of state and local governments, save for some unity secondary schools operated by the federal government. Moreover, the allocation to the UBEC Fund is statutory, which is 2 per cent of the Consolidated Revenue. Unless the UBEC Act is changed, the lawmakers cannot allocate more funds.

In terms of allocating more resources to build libraries, toilets, and other facilities within one year, there is no available public information showing conscious allocation of more resources to education at the primary and secondary levels.

Aside from basic healthcare, the lawmakers also listed some ambitious targets for secondary, technical, and Almajiri schools. However, many of the planned actions were vague, and actions have not been taken to address the concrete issues.

Healthcare

The House also promised universal healthcare coverage for all through the National Health Insurance Scheme within one year and specifically set a 15 per cent target as allocation for healthcare in the 2024 budget in accordance with the Abuja Accord. Again, available records show that none of these things happened. While N1.17 trillion in the 2024 budget is the highest ever, it is still far from the 15 per cent target.

Electricity

To achieve improvement in the electricity sector, the lawmakers promised to prioritise investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure to reduce technical and non-technical losses, support the implementation of tariffs that reflect the true cost of electricity generation and distribution, and strengthen legislation to increase penalties for energy theft, meter tampering, and vandalism of energy infrastructure.

All these were expected to be achieved by the House within the first year. So far, nothing has changed in the power sector in terms of investment in the transmission and distribution sectors, and the lawmakers have not passed any legislation to that effect.

Regarding cost-effective tariffs, electricity consumers in the Band A category experienced a significant tariff hike recently, a move that the House rejected. This shows that the House has not presented a coherent position on the energy sector; rather, they have been reactive. Finally, no law has been passed on energy theft, meter tampering, and vandalism of power assets.

In the last year, the situation has become dire in the North-east, where terrorists have been vandalising transmission lines. The only response from the lawmakers has been motions without action, as many communities in that region remain in darkness.

Highway/Rail Transportation/Waterways/Aviation

To address the high cost of transportation, the lawmakers promised to “regulate tariffs and pricing in the transport sector to ensure affordability.”

However, in the last year, most Nigerians have seen an increase in their transportation costs due to the removal of the petroleum subsidy by the Tinubu administration. Even the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses promised by the government have yet to materialise.

Similar promises were made regarding other means of transportation, but for most Nigerians, a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) painted a gloomier picture of transportation costs in Nigeria. For instance, intra-city transportation increased by 49.5 per cent within the last year, while inter-city bus transportation increased by 79 per cent within the same period.

Open Parliament and Citizen Engagement

The 10th House has made some progress in citizen engagement by leveraging relationships with civil society organisations. In the past legislative year, the House hosted dialogues on different sectors in the country, including state policing, power, constitutional alterations, taxation, and insecurity.

The spokesperson of the House, Akin Rotimi, has also improved access to legislative activities with an open WhatsApp group where people can access information about legislative activities. However, the lower chamber has not been able to fulfil some of the specific promises made.

It promised to promote funding or subsidies for female candidates to reduce the financial barrier to entry. For young people, the lawmakers promised to incentivise private sector companies to employ and train youth through tax breaks and grants.

In terms of transparency, the House promised to create a centralised digital portal for all legislative documents, including bills, votes and proceedings, official reports, committee reports, and other relevant documents. It also planned to open a dedicated website for the House and the office of the speaker. All these have yet to be done within the first year of the administration.

Agenda Seven: Foreign Policy

The lawmakers promised to review all treaties to which Nigeria is a signatory, to domesticate them, and to harmonise the provisions of the constitution and the Treaty Ratification Act to ensure consistency.

However, there is no evidence that the lawmakers have achieved any of these promises within the first year of the House.

Meanwhile, the House leadership effected a minor reshuffle of its committees last month. It moved Abdulmummin Jibrin from the Committee on Foreign Affairs to the Committee on Housing and Habitat, replacing him with Oluwole Oke (PDP, Osun). Speaker Tajudeen explained that it was done to ensure efficiency.

Agenda Eight: Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability

One of the major promises made in this sector is the passage of the Gas Flaring (Prohibition and Punishment) Bill and the promotion of e-government to achieve a paperless system. Like most promises, lawmakers have also missed the timeline given for implementing the plan.

Overall, while Mr Tajudeen’s document seems laudable, the missing link has been the lack of strategy and coordination for its implementation.

Inexperienced Speaker

While addressing his colleagues on 13 June 2023, Abbas Tajudeen appeared trustworthy. He had gained an unprecedented 353 votes to emerge as speaker of the 10th House of Representatives.

Tajudeen Abbas, the Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives.

Mr Tajudeen told the newly inaugurated lawmakers that the victory was about “honouring the trust that has been placed on us.”

He further assured that “Under my watch, the 10th House shall sustain and even surpass the gains of the 9th House. That is my prayer.”

While such declarations are not new in such epochal moments, the choice of the word “trust” seems to have captured the general notion of the trust deficit the House is struggling to overcome. The historical lack of trust in the federal legislature has earned it the unflattering tag of “rubber stamp,” a phrase that the last House wore as a garment throughout its four-year existence. Considering that Mr Tajudeen emerged as the candidate of President Bola Tinubu, for many Nigerians, it is more of a case of guilt until proven innocent.

The Character of the House under Tajudeen

Mr Tajudeen was first elected to the parliament in 2011 on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). He was re-elected in 2015, 2019, and 2023 to represent the Zaria Federal Constituency. In the last Assembly, he was missing in action. Even though he sponsored the highest number of bills, he was not one of the most active lawmakers. Some of his opponents used this to campaign against him during the speakership race.

His deputy, Benjamin Kalu, the Majority Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, and the Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Business, Francis Waive, are not people you would describe as veterans in the House because they arrived in 2019 and had only spent a single term before they were tapped to lead the House.

When this is compared to the last House, the gap is wide. For instance, former Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila was first elected into the House in 2003. He served as Minority Leader and Majority Leader before becoming Speaker. His deputy, Ahmed Wase, was first elected in 2007. The Majority Leader, Alhassan Doguwa, was first elected in 1992 and has been in the House consistently since 2003.

Femi Gbajabiamila (PHOTO CREDIT: @femigbaja,https://twitter.com/femigbaja)

To further compound this situation, Mr Tajudeen is leading a House where over 70 per cent of the members are new. Assisted by his deputy, Mr Kalu, the speaker’s job is not just to lead but to guide the newbies in the House in terms of legislative processes and procedures in discharging their legislative functions of lawmaking and oversight. However, he has struggled with the legislative process and proceedings. Some insiders have blamed this on the speaker being the first non-lawyer to occupy the seat in the last 12 years.

The legislature is a place of procedure guided by standing rules.

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In the last legislative year, Mr Tajudeen’s lack of familiarity with the standing rules has been glaring, as he often fumbles even the most basic legislative processes, like dealing with personal explanations or motions on privilege. Sometimes, he allows debates on these points of order and sometimes does not know how to rule on them. It took the recent intervention of former Deputy Speaker Wase to correct the current House on this erroneous practice.

Motions and bills are also not thoroughly debated, particularly when Mr Tajudeen is presiding over the House.

Often, the order paper is crowded with frivolous motions. Sometimes things get so preposterous that lawmakers are asked to read only the titles and resolutions of motions.

In some instances, lawmakers are presenting motions that should ordinarily be on notice as motions of urgent public importance, and because Mr Tajudeen has a poor vetting system, he often allows such to scale.

Motions of urgent national public importance are motions that cannot wait due to their importance, and the rules of the House must be suspended for them to be heard. For instance, on 9 May 2024, Mr Tajudeen allowed the House to entertain eight motions of urgent public importance in one day.

Aside from the House floor, several committee chairpersons are newbies with zero legislative experience, and this often shows in how they handle investigative and public hearings.

Aside from legislative procedures, the current House sees itself as having a tall order to match the achievements of its predecessor. Despite the criticism the Gbajabiamila-led House faced, it passed some landmark legislations like the Petroleum Industry Act, the Electoral Act, the Student Loan Act, and several constitutional alteration bills that delisted some critical items from the Exclusive List.

Mr Gbajabiamila also led some critical interventions within and outside the country using what he calls “parliamentary diplomacy.”

Bills and Motions

Although the Rules Business Committee of the House refused to provide PREMIUM TIMES information on the number of bills passed and motions adopted, sources within the committee indicated that the House, in the last legislative year, passed 82 bills as of May. Twelve of these bills were executive bills while the rest were private member bills.

Similarly, the House received 679 motions, seven of which were rejected, 22 referred to ad hoc committees, and 651 to standing committees.