LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT CRITICAL TO NIGERIA’S DEMOCRACY-SPEAKER
By:Safiya Abdulrahim Dabban
The Speaker of the House of Representatives Dr Tajudeen Abbas, says the National Assembly’s oversight of holding the other arms of government accountable is critical to Nigeria’s democracy.
The Speaker made the remark at a one-day workshop on ‘Assessment of the National Monitoring and Evaluation Policy of Nigeria and the Role of Legislature’ organised by the Directorate of Planning and Legislative Budget of the National Assembly.
Dr Abbas, however, stated that the 10th Assembly would also be accountable to the public.
Represented by the Chairman of the House Committee on Legislative Budget, Mohammed Bio, the Speaker said it was in line with the agenda of the 10th Assembly to ensure, through oversight, that the nation’s commonwealth is properly managed for the benefit of all Nigerians.
Speaker Abbas said: “Monitoring and evaluation as a national policy is a framework designed as a way of institutionalizing standard practices and culture of good governance in public investment and accountability towards improvement of socio-economic development of the society.
“The issue of monitoring and evaluation constitutes a major part of the constitutional responsibility of the Legislature, which is called oversight.
He said through oversight, the Legislature, as the representatives of the people, ensures that the government remains accountable to citizens on the utilisation of public funds, as well as in the implementation of policies and laws.
Speaker Abba stressed that the 10th Assembly was equally opening up the National Assembly through the ‘Open NASS’ project, which not only engages citizens in legislative activities, particularly oversight, but also ensures that citizens are able to question the National Assembly on its usage of allocated funds.