Speaker Unveils Policy Document For Capacity Building Of Lawmakers

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr. Abbas Tajudeen, has unveiled a policy document on training, retraining and capacity building of members of the 10th House, legislative aides and support staff for better performance and output.

The document, titled ‘Parliamentary Development Programme for 10th House of Representatives, National Assembly, 2023-2027’, was prepared by the Office of the Speaker in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), anchored by the Programmes Coordinating Unit (PCU) in the Research and Policy division of the Office of the Speaker.

At the unveiling done by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr. Benjamin Kalu, on behalf of the Speaker, were several local and international development and technical partners of the National Assembly.

“The results are presented today in a document titled Parliamentary Development Programme. This is in line with our Legislative Agenda, which identifies the strengthening of the internal capacity of the legislature as a critical factor towards achieving all our other legislative objectives.

“As a result, the document before us today reflects our current capabilities and the urgent requirements needed to elevate the standards of our legislative functions,” he said.

In his remarks, Chairman, House Committee on Civil Societies and Development Partners, Mr. Victor Obuzor, thanked the Speaker for the initiative, saying “this is really assisting (us in) our work.”

Clerk of the House, Dr. Yahaya Danzaria, also described the development as “an inter-parliamentary wedding between the House of Reps and the development partners through the PCU”, adding that it was “an effort kick-started since the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly.

Partners represented at the event included UNDP, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), YIAGA Africa, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Order Paper, BudgIT, Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL), the European Union and the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER), among others.

Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji