The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, has said the National Assembly is facing a capacity development challenge because of the high number of newly elected lawmakers after the last election.
Abbas, who said this when the board and management of the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) visited him at his office in Abuja yesterday, called for experienced professionals to serve as aides to lawmakers.
The speaker said the visit by the NASC leadership would afford both bodies the opportunity for frank exchange of ideas to further strengthen the capacity of the National Assembly to perform its role as a branch of the government.
He said: “The 10th House of Representatives and, indeed, National Assembly is faced with the challenge of capacity development with the high turnover of members from the last election. This demands a bureaucracy that is well equipped to demonstrate competence and reliability by providing guidance to the new members.
“You must, as a commission, show more diligence in your appointment of staff, including the legislative aides to members, to ensure that those you engage following the recommendations of members are people with the requisite capacity to support their principals to succeed. There is no better way to build a legislative institution to meet the yearnings of the people.”
Abbas also stated that one of his cardinal policies as Speaker of the 10th House was to ensure capacity development for members and staff of the National Assembly.
“In this regard, I have engaged with and will continue to engage technical partners, civil society organisations (CSOs) and donor agencies to provide technical support in this direction. The aim is to have an institution with requisite manpower to compete with any Legislature across the globe,” he added.
The speaker said he desires for the National Assembly to have a Legislative Aides Corps that would be a pool of professionals and resources for members, “without having to be struggling to assemble a new crop of aides after each election cycle.”
He added, “In this regard, the commission is expected to create a dedicated directorate with qualified and competent personnel to drive this vision for the interest of the legislature and consolidation of our legislative practice. All these will be possible if the commission is determined and focused to work with the National Assembly to achieve good results.”
He said the National Assembly must have a functional scheme of service and defined line of succession for seamless transition in the event of vacancy, especially in the office of the Clerk to the National Assembly.
Earlier, chairman of the NASC, Engr. Ahmed Kadi Amshi, said the speaker will steer the House to an enviable height because of his antecedence as an experienced public officer and legislator.
Amshi said the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, “is another experienced Legislator, whose election we see as a round peg in a round hole.”
He added that the choice of the principal officers of the House “is equally an indication that great things are in the offing for the citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria through your legislative functions.”
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