It is no longer news that members of the Nigerian Senate and the House of Representatives earn more than their counterparts all over the world. Or that the annual allocation of the National Assembly surpasses the budgets of 21 Nigerian states. The news is that, of the one hundred and twenty Bills passed by the 7th assembly in the last four years, almost 40% was done in one day.
A Typical Senate Proceeding
Senator David Mark during the votes to pass these Bills, made clear the reason behind the approach; the limited amount of time, as well as the extent of resources expended in the preparation of the bills. He also adopted the sleek move of suspending the Senate Standing Orders 79(1) that required a first second and third reading, and invoked Order 1(b) which gave the legal backing necessary for a Special Procedure.
One cannot undermine the importance of some of the Bills passed, or the necessity for them. The Anti-Torture Bill for example has been long over-due, at the least; it protects Nigerians from the all too frequent stories of policemen brutalizing people into the acceptance of a crime they didn’t commit.
It also gives some respite to those currently in detention, especially after the recent Amnesty International report that over 7,000 young men and boys have died in detention by the Nigerian military as Boko Haram suspects.
But the job of a Nigerian Senator is perhaps most importantly about bills, a job for which they earn a salary in the range of $160,000 yearly, or roughly N 30, 000,000 depending on the exchange rate. When you find that certain Bills like the Oath Taking bill or the Passport (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Bill, and others that simply required minor adjustments were on the list of the Bills adopted without a second or third reading you don’t bat an eyelid.
But criminal records for convicts, witness-protection and health insurance should not be matters that can be delayed to the end of a legislative term, and a Bill for the setting up of a commission for Nigerians in the diaspora undeniably creates a complexity regarding its importance and role, especially since Nigeria still runs a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and there are still Nigerian embassies around the world.
Two problems the lightning speed signing of 46 bills into law presents is that on one hand, it hints at some form of legislative rascality, only this time, unlike in the issue of the salaries of legislators, it does so on decisions that concerns Nigerians directly.
The Senate has said, with this last action of its 7th Assembly, that it can close its eyes and sign bills into law, and it can do this without reviewing the bills to ensure that all needs have been taken into account to ensure that these adoptions were in the best interest of Nigerians, or whether these bills are necessary or not.
Secondly it has shown, once again, that there exists a huge divide between what the Nigerian people want and what their representatives fight for. The Senate made a display, by signing these bills speedily at the last minute, of how non-existent the Nigerian people are in their political scheme.
That is why bills pertaining to Violence Against Persons often in form of military and police brutality, or the Prohibition Of Discrimination Against Persons with Disability, or Corporate Manslaughter in form of several people run over by Dangote trucks, did not concern these legislators till the end of their legislative term.
Several groups have called for the review of these bills, especially because some of them have perhaps understood that Nigerian Senators would hardly sign into law anything that does not guarantee them a huge slice in form of kick-backs, or advance their political career. But more people remain skeptical about whether anything can be done about the House.
Even though the incoming government is starting on a note of reducing the cost of governance and several legislators themselves have begun pushing for efficiency in the decision structure, yet, this is still no guarantee that in anytime near, the House will cease to remain what it is to those that fight so hard to become a part of it: an institution for personal enrichment, as against the mandate of the people. Something the 7th Assembly has reminded us in their final move.
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