The speaker of the House of Representatives, \u00fdRt. Hon Yakubu Dogara, has<\/p>\n
warned lawmakers, especially chairmen and deputy chairmen, to shun acts of
\ncorruption in order not to compromise the image and mission of the 8th
\nAssembly.
\nThe speaker, who sounded this warning yesterday at a retreat organised for
\nchairmen and deputies of House committees at the National Assembly, also
\nwarned the lawmakers that they cannot come out of such corrupt
\nfraternisation untainted b\u00fdecause they are masters of their game.
\nDogara warned, “You must not succumb to persons or institutions that will
\nseek to influence your judgment through corrupt means. If you take bribe
\nfrom any person, you will impugn and destroy the integrity of the House as
\nan institution. You will also scandalise yourself. You will compromise the
\nimage and the mission of the 8th Assembly. I wish to warn that we should
\navoid being dragged into the murky waters of corruption because we cannot
\nbeat the swines that specialise in wrestling there, to their own game.
\nOnce you are sucked in there, you are dead in the waters. Corrupt
\npractices is and will never be part of the Legislative Agenda of the 8th
\nAssembly!!.
\nHe also charged them to focus on exposing waste, corruption and
\ninefficiency in the executive by carrying out thorough investigation of
\ntheir activities.
\n“For emphasis, our chairmen and their deputies should lead their various
\ncommittees in the war against corruption and graft. Our investigative
\nactivities must be based only on the need to expose corruption,
\ninefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of Laws within
\nour legislative competence and in the administration of funds
\nappropriated by the National Assembly.”
\nGoing further, he stressed the power of the National Assembly to summon
\nany person to give evidence or as witness during its investigative duties.
\nHe stated, “The Constitution in Section 89 further empowers the National
\nAssembly to summon any person in Nigeria to give evidence, procure
\ndocuments, and issue warrants to compel the attendance of a reluctant
\nwitness. The Committee on Rules and Business must ensure that henceforth
\nall Resolutions requiring investigative hearing must have a legislative
\npurpose stated in the Resolution itself, in order to pass judicial
\nscrutiny, where necessary.”
\nThe speaker emphasised that parliaments are indispensable institutions of
\nrepresentative democracy with the sole aim to represent the people and
\nensure that public policy is informed by citizens’ views and voices and
\nlegislation for the common good that responds to the needs of the
\ncitizens.
\nHe noted, however, that the committees are not meant to weaken the
\nExecutive, but are constitutionally empowered as agents of the House to
\nprevent misuse and abuse of executive power.
\n“The objective of activities of committees is not to obstruct but to
\nscrutinize and identify gaps and errors and correct same through
\nlegislative activities and legislation. Members of the National Assembly
\nare specifically elected and swore to an Oath of office to check and
\nbalance improper exercise of executive action on behalf of the Nigerian
\npeople”, he stated, adding that change can only be piloted through
\nlegislation.
\n“Change itself must be regulated, so that our people would not face the
\ndangers of unregulated change…In this respect, legislative Committees,
\nas the engine room of our legislative activities, can compliment the
\nChange efforts of the Executive. The Committees of the House, of which you
\nare Chairs and Deputy Chairs, must become drivers of the Change process
\nespoused and expounded by the current administration geared towards
\nproviding physical and economic infrastructure as well as social policies
\nthat would provide opportunities for all Nigerians, especially the poor
\nand the vulnerable.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The speaker of the House of Representatives, \u00fdRt. Hon Yakubu Dogara, has warned lawmakers, especially chairmen and deputy chairmen, to shun acts of corruption in order not to compromise the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n