Recycled Bills, Slow Progress In NASS.

A recent performance report card by Order Paper, Nigeria’s leading parliamentary monitoring organization, reveals a mixed bag of achievements and challenges in the first year of the 10th National Assembly.

The report highlights a significant gap between sponsorship and progression of legislative drafts, with only 19 out of 475 bills introduced in the Senate making it through to the legislative finish line, leaving 416 bills stuck awaiting second reading.

Similarly, only 58 out of 1,175 bills introduced in the House of Representatives have been passed, with a vast majority of 967 bills awaiting second reading.

Furthermore, over half of the bills sponsored in the Senate, 51%, were recycled from previous assemblies, raising concerns about legislative ‘copy-pasting’ and merchandising of bills.

Similarly, nearly one-third, 31%, of the bills processed in the House of Representatives were also resurrected from the past.

This trend raises grave concerns about the lack of originality and progress in the legislative process.

In a statement in Abuja, Founder and Executive Director of OrderPaper, Oke Epia notes that the surge in bill submissions and slow progress underscores a long-standing challenge in getting bills through to the legislative finish line.

He emphasizes the need for citizens to focus on quality and impact rather than just quantity.

“Citizens must demand accountability from lawmakers by focusing not just on quantity, but on the quality and impact of their work with respect to bills processing in parliament,” he said.

Programme Executive at OrderPaper, Joy Erurane highlights the importance of sectoral analysis to navigate legislative impacts better and aid decision-making.

“This approach enables stakeholders in these sectors to navigate legislative impacts better and aid decision-making,” she said.

The report also reveals a troubling lack of focus on critical issues of national importance. Bills related to agriculture and food security make up only 5.8% of the total House bills and 7.3% of Senate bills. Security-related bills account for 7.2% of House bills and 5.4% of Senate bills. Despite significant challenges faced by citizens in these sectors, many bills addressing these issues have not progressed past the first reading.

Order Paper urges citizens, legislators, and partners to deploy the performance report cards to push for impactful legislative governance, focusing on quality, progression, and value rather than just quantity.

The organization calls for urgent action to close the gap between promise and progress, ensuring that the 10th assembly fulfills its potential.

PR Oduyemi Odumade