In recognition of the economic recesssion in the country, Speaker of the
House of Representatives, Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara, has urged the House to
focus more on amendment of existing government agencies by giving them
additional functions, rather than establishing new ones.
The Speaker said this while delivering his opening remarks at a public
hearing organised by the House Committee on Information and National
Orientation, Ethics and values.
“As a parliament, we must weigh very carefully the cost of setting up new
Government Agencies especially during this period of economic recession.
Sometimes instead of establishing new agencies we may just amend the laws
setting up similar existing agencies by incorporating the mandate of the
new agencies in the old one. This is because to set up a new bureaucracy
with complement of Directors, offices, equipment may be unnecessary.”
The public hearing was aimed at collectively analysing the content of four
bills that have passed second reading at plenary and subsequently referred
to the Committee for further legislative action, namely;
(1) A Bill for an Act to Amend the National Broadcasting Commission Act
(HB 168)
(2) A Bill for an Act to Provide for the Regulation and Conduct of
Broadcasting Profession in Nigeria (HB 150)
(3) A Bill for an Act to Repeal Nigerian Films Corporation and Re-enact
the Nigerian films Commission (HB 584)
(4) A Bill for an Act to Establish the National Agency for Ethics and
Values (HB 519) .
One of the Bills (HB 168) proposes to insert to address the issues of
Competition, Monopoly and Wholesale Offer in our broadcasting market
while another is on the proposed Federal Competition Bill pending at the
Committee of Whole of the House.