A Publication of CISLAC Vol. 1 No. 9. June, 2007 … · A Publication of CISLAC Vol. 1 No. 9. June, 2007 P resident Umar Musa Yar’Adua on June 27th, 2007 wrote both chambers of

Legislative Digest, Vol 1 No. 9. June 2007 1

With support from USAID (ADVANCE Project)through a grant from PACT–Nigeria.

A Publication of CISLAC Vol. 1 No. 9. June, 2007

President Umar Musa Yar’Aduaon June 27th, 2007 wrote both

chambers of the NationalAssembly to inform them about hisdecision not assent to two Bills;Nigerian Agency for ForeignAssistance (NAFFAT) Act. 2007and National Assembly Budgetand Research Office Act.2007earlier passed by the immediatepassed fifth National Assembly.

The President in the letter said,“Having studied the two importantbills, I wish to raise the followingobservations for consideration”.For the NAFFA Act, he pointed outthat sections 2, 15(1) and 21(3)

Rejected Bills

President Yar’Adua, Reps disagreeBy Boniface Kassam

which have to do with, compositionof the Governing Board and Modeof Operation, Expenditure of theAgency and Restriction onexecution against property of theAgency raise some contradictions.

For instance, in sections 2, hesaid, “clearly some of theinstitutions charged with therespomsibility of makingrecommendation for appointmentsand forming part of the Board nolonger exist, so there may be alacuna, while section 15(1) may putan additional mechanism that maylikely slow down the operations ofthe agency.

On the NABRO Act, he saidsections 2, 4, 5,6,8,9,10,17,18 and21 appear to have either usurped

the functions of the various HouseCommittees or would appear toduplicate same. Similarly, he saidsections 1(1), 8(2) 2(1) (i) 12 (2) and13(2) also require reconstruction toalign them with the perceivedintent of the enactment”. He urgedboth chambers to take a secondlook at those sections with a viewto amending same for furtheraction.

However, in its reaction, theHouse of Representatives querrythe President over his refusal toassent to the Bills. The Houseciting its Standing Order 15, Rule8, said the letter has raised somefundamental constitutionalquestions and has put them in adilemma on how to treat the billsas they are yet to find any standing

Reps Welfare C’ttee recommendsparties’ flags in offices

In the absence of standingcommittees in the House of

Representatives, HonourableSpeaker, Patricia Etteh,constituted the Ad-HocCommittee on Welfare of Houseof Representatives on the 6thJune 2007.

The 21-member committeewith Honourable F.A Adegoke asits chair, had the following as itsterms of reference; to sort andallocate office accommodationfor members in the Assembly

Continued on Page 3Continued on Page 5

President Umaru Yar’Adua

Mrs Patricia EttehSpeaker, House of Reps

2 Legislative Digest, Vol 1 No. 9. June 2007

Editorial Board

Adagbo Onoja

Ibrahim Egboli

Adoga Ugaga

Medina Dauda

Boniface Kassam - Editor

Secretariat Staff

Auwal Musa (Rafsanjani)Executive Director

Boniface KassamProgram/Media Officer

Zainab IsahAccountant

Abimbola S. OkoiluSecretary

Josephine AlabiResident Volunteer

Ezenwa NwaguResident Volunteer

InternsAhmed M. Ogwuche

Ojone IdokoFatima Umar

Aga Bature BemCorper

Editorial Comment

Oversea Liaison

Tobias Eigen – USA

Olly Owen – UK

Morten Hagen – UK

A Publication of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) with support fromUSAID (ADVANCE Project) through a grant from PACT-Nigeria.

CONTACT ADDRESS: No. 5 Mahathma Ghandi Street, off Shehu Shagari Way, by Bullet Garden, Area 11Garki, Abuja-Nigeria. Tel: 234-08033844646.

website: www.cislacnigeria.org email: [email protected], [email protected]

In any democratic setting,legislative oversight of

government policies in generaland of the budget process inparticular, is of vital importancein ensuring that governmentscarry out their duties efficiently,democratically, and in a fiscalresponsible manner.

A US Senate Committee oncedefined legislative oversight as“a wide range of congressionalefforts to review and controlpolicy implementation”. Hence,the added responsibility ofmonitoring the compliance ofthe state bureaucracy withpolicy-makers.

This means that democraticinstitutions all over must beresponsive but also decisive.And policy makers must be ableto respond to public demandsand urgent policy needs, butthey must also be able tomaintain commitments to policyin the face of resistance.

The legislative calendar of thecurrent sixth National Assemblyshows that on 27 July 2007 theyare expected to go on recess forsix weeks, which means that thelegislators may not be back tooffice until, perhaps first orsecond week of September 2007.

This, to so many concerneddemocrats, and us in particular,is one recess, too many given thefact that it has not been longthey came back from a similarrecess. More so that, the currentgovernment is yet to constitutean executive council with

ministerial nominees stillundergoing screening by theNational Assembly.

Our major concern also, is thenon-constitution of StandingCommittees, which are veryimperative if the NationalAssembly is to function at all andensure oversight not only onMinistries, but also on allgovernment agencies. This is so,because we see standingcommittees as the basicplatforms on which thelegislature is expected to find asound footing and any attemptto delay or politicize it wouldmean throwing a spanner in theworks.

At this critical moment of ourdemocratic consolidation, manyNigerians are yearning forstable, democratic andresponsive governance.Therefore, for a vital arm ofgovernment (the legislature)which majority of the membersis new and requires capacitybuilding to effectively dischargetheir oversight responsibility, toembark on recess twice withina short time, is to us a draw back.

They should therefore note thateffective governance mayrequire imposing losses on somegroups in favor of benefits forthe larger public good. And, thata weakened state undergoingdemocracy during a time ofeconomic crisis is particularlyvulnerable to capture andcorruption by powerful intereststhat seek benefits at publicexpenses.

One ‘Recess’ too many


Recently, the Publish What YouPay (PWYP), a coalition of over

one hundred civil society groups inNigeria whose main objective is toentrench a culture of transparencyand accountability in the extractiveindustry paid an advocacy visit tothe Nigerian National PetroleumCorporation (NNPC). The purposewas to seek a review of the NigerianExtractive Industry TransparencyInitiative (NEITI) Audit report.

The team, which was led by theExecutive Director of Women’sRights to Education Programme(WREP), Mimidoo Achakpa. OtherCivil Society groups who were partof the advocacy visit included, theCivil Society Legislative AdvocacyCentre (CISLAC), represented byAga Bature Bem, Centre forDevelopment Integration in Africa(CDIA), represented by Dr.Akongbowa Bramwell Amadasunand Rahama Women DevelopmentProgramme, Bauchi represented byMr. Daniel Yarima.

Dr. Louis Brown Ogbeifun of theEmployee Relations Department ofthe NNPC received the civil societygroup at the NNPC towers at about2.51pm. He warmly welcomed theteam to his office after which therepresentatives of the various civilsociety organisations introducedthemselves and their organisations.

Mr. Daniel Yarima of RahamaWomen Development, Bauchi in aremark onbehalf of the visitorsinformed their host about how thePWYP coalition was formed. Hetraced the origin of PWYP to theconsensus by member CSOs to seekto embibe the culture oftransparency and accountability inevery organisation be it public orprivate but most especially theextractive industry. He also talkedon the structure of PWYP just as heinformed him about the fact that thecoalition had special interest inyouth and gender issues. He furtherdisclosed that PWYP used advocacyas a tool in achieving the above-mentioned objectives with the aim

PWYP coalition visits NNPC on NEITI Audit reportBy Aga Bature Bem

of propelling communitydevelopment.

In addition, he further disclosedthat PWYP and EITI got togetherbecause they share a common aimof achieving transparency andaccountability in the extractiveindustry.

The coalition also re-iterated theneed for NAPIMS, DPR and otheragencies of the NNPC to collaboratewith CSOs in their reforms drive.

They explained that the mainpurpose of the visit was to point outthe issues raised in the NEITI AuditReport with a view to addressingthem. They urged the NNPCofficials to embark on a follow upAudit of the extractive industry inNigeria since the last Audit was forthe period from 1999 - 2006. Theteam sought the strengthening ofexisting relationship between CSOsand the NNPC in order to sanitisethe Nigerian extractive industry.

In his response, Dr. BrownOgbeifun said that the issues raisedin the Audit would be betteraddressed in a larger meeting withtop management staff of the NNPC.He canvassed for another meetingwhere the Group Managing Directorand other management staff will beon ground to do a better x-ray of theissues raised in the NEITI AuditReport. He encouraged the PWYPteam to forward a formal request tothe GMD of the NNPC for a meeting.He thanked the team for theircommitment to creating atransparent and accountableextractive industry in Nigeria. Hewas optimistic that the plannedmeeting with the NNPCmanagement could be possiblewithin few weeks.

Engr. Funso KukpolokunGMD, NNPC

order to that effect.“The question is whether to take

bills afresh because the House thathandled their passage has beendissolved, and can the bills beamended under the new StandingOrder?

Honourable Ita Enang whilecommenting on the President’sposition recently said, that theprevious House, which waspronounced, dissolved by thePresident, passed bills and others.He therefore querried whether thesignature of the President is validon a Bill passed but was notassentedto before he assumedoffice.

CISLAC had in an editorial lastyear identified as problem area, thequestion of the grand orientationin which the staff of the unit wouldb schooled. Why a budget analyticunit is considered more primarythan a unit that does grandthinking and strategic analysis forthe Nigerian national legislature?

Finally, they asked about thePolicy Analysis and ResearchProject (PARP), which approxi-mates the strategic thinking unitthat an ambitious nationallegislature needs in today’s world.That PARP was a tenured agencybut it can be reformulated into sucha unit, with NARBRO as a specialsub-unit of it.

President Yar’Adua, Reps disagreeContinued from Page 1

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News

Zero Corruption Coalition(ZCC), a coalition of civil

society organisations recentlyorganised an interactive dinnerwith National Legislators atTranscorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.The event was well attended byLegislators, Non GovernmentalOrganisations (NGOs), CivilSociety Organisations (CSOs)and media organisations. TheChairman of the IndependentCorrupt Practices and otherRelated Crimes Commission(ICPC), Honourable JusticeEmmanuel Ayoola, who gave theopening remarks, chaired theoccasion. He commended ZCCfor their courage in the fightagainst corruption and statedthat to infuse integrity in oursociety, there was the need forpartnership with NGOs, CSOsand government agencies tofight corruption. He thanked allpersons present for honouringthe event.

The National Coordinator ofthe ZCC, Ms Lillian Ekeanyanwuin her welcome address statedthat ZCC has been very active inLegislative Advocacy aimed atpushing for the enactment oflaws, which will enhancetransparency and accountabilityin Nigeria. She was of the viewthat a structured CSOinvolvement process will enrichthe oversight function of thelegislature and that this could beachieved by having a componentfor CSOs input and participationin such processes taking intoconsideration areas of focus andsectoral expertise.

Distinguished participantswho graced the event made otherremarks. These included Ms EveThompson, CountryRepresentative of PACT Nigeria/ADVANCE; Ms CherylFernandes, First Secretary-Political Affairs United StatesEmbassy; and Hon. AminuTambawul, who represented theSpeaker of the House of

Representative, Hon. MrsPatricia Etteh. Hon. UsmanBugaje, former chairman, HouseCommittee on Foreign Affairs inthe House, gave a keynotepresentation titled“Collaboration betweenLegislators and CSOs in lawmaking and oversight functions.A critical Need” followed by apresentation by Senator NkechiNwaogu titled “The Challengesof legislative and oversightfunctions”.

In addition, updates andbriefings on some pending Billsand Acts were given at theoccasion by CSOs. Theseincluded the “NEITI ACT fromEnactment to Implementation”presented by the ExecutiveDirector of Civil SocietyLegislative Advocacy Centre(CISLAC), Mr Auwal MusaRafsanjani; “The status of theFreedom of Information Bill andthe way forward” by Mr Edet Ojoof Media Rights Agenda. Otherswere, “Status Reports onpending Amendments to EFCCACT, ICPC ACT and Code ofConduct Tribunal ACT” byChibuzo Ekwekwuo and a“Status report on CEDAW Bill”by Mrs. Hadiza Kangiwa.

In the end, questions,comments and responses weretaken from the floor, as theoccasion was an interactivedinner. In his reaction, Hon.Aminu Tambawul gaveassurance of a Liaison Office forCSOs within the NationalAssembly premises. TheDirector of Centre forDemocratic Development(CDD), Dr Jubril Ibrahim gavethe vote of thanks and closingremarks.

ZCC holds interface with LegislatorsBy Ahmed Ogwuche

Hon. Aminu Tambuwal delivering an address at the dinner onbehalf of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.


A s part of its intensifiedefforts to help countries

mobilize and develop nationalcapacities for the achievement oftheir development priorities,including the MDGs, the UnitedNational DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP), AfricaRegional Bureau organised acapacity development workshopin Accra, Ghana from 26th - 30thMay 2007.

The workshop, according tothe organizers, was in responseto the global commitment amongdeveloping and developedcountries, to accelerate Africa’sprogress towards meeting theMillenium Development Goals(MDGs).

The commitment is containedin a number of internationaldeclarations and frameworkswhich include; the ParisDeclaration on Aid Effectiveness,the 2005 World Summit at whichAfrican countries joined otherdeveloping countries in pledgingto develop MDG-based nationaldevelopment plans andstrategies by end 2006, and theGleneagles Declaration in whichthe G-8 pledged, amongst otherthings, to scale up and ease theconstraints faced by Africa in itsdevelopment process.

The meeting hosted by theInstitute for Democracy andGood Governance (IDEG) Accra,Ghana was attended by over 40participants drawn from civilsociety groups, governmentagencies and the UNDP, AfricaBureau discussed the UNDP’sstrategy in Africa in order torefocuse its resources in theregion for greater impact.

In his welcome address, theResiden Representative of UNDPin Ghana, Dauda Toure said,UNDP has been in the businessof capacity development and islikely to remain there. That by

UNDP capacity development meeting held in AccraBy Boniface Kassam

way of definition, he said UNDPseeks to enhance the capacity ofindividuals, institutions andgovernment to perform.

According to him, Ghanalargely, is a country wherecapacity is not an issue.Nevertheless, for UNDP there isstill need to develop capacity inspecific areas. “We are workingwith the Presidency and NationalPlanning Commission to re-thinktheir long-term planning, instead

of only top-bottom; it should bebottom-top approach. We alsowork with CSOs in Ghana toensure accountability withintheir organisations and not justfocus on government”, he said.

In his contribution, anevaluation specialist, Sule Garbawhile commenting on UNDP’scapacity development frameworkraised some fundamentalquestions. These include; Are we

complex, to enable them settledown quickly for their legislativeduties, to see to members’allowances, salaries andentitlements and to address allissues concerning members’welfare and working tools.

After several meetings, thecommittee inspected all offices asprovided by the Sergeant-At-Arms and several observationsand findings were made. Amongthem were that; officeaccommodation has been a majorproblem to members in theprevious dispensation and thatadequate step has to be taken toaddress the situation, that thereare some lap-top computers in

the National Assembly store yetto be distributed to membersand that allocation of officeswould be based on ranking.

At the end, the committeeresolved and recommended asfollows; that everyparliamentarian should have apager in addition with the laptopto facilitate their job, that eachStanding Committee of theHouse should have a Researcher/Consulatant. Others were, theintroduction of parties’ flags inall Honourable members’ officesas being practiced in the UnitedStates of America and otherworld parliaments, and thatplate numbers be distributed tomembers immediately.

Reps Welfare C’ttee recommends parties’ flags in officesContinued from Page 1

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Continued on Page 7

A UNDP facilitator taking participants through a session.


Senate in jolly good mood for motionsBy Adoga Ugaga

T he Senate have sincereconvened but without

standing committees to commencelegislations in the true sense ofneither it, nor ministerial list fortheir screening has taken tomotions and resolutions.

To keep busy, several motionshave been moved by Senators,prominent among which were; theone moved by Senate Leader,Teslim Folarin on the sale of theKaduna and Port HarcourtRefineries. He prayed the Senateto set up a Special Committee toinvestigate the issues leading tothe just called off Labour strike, soas to avoid future occurence. Thereversal of sale of Kaduna and PortHarcourt refineries and theincrease in pump price ofpetroleum products were part ofthe reasons for the strike action.

The motion led to the resolutionto set up an ad-hoc committee toinvestigate the sale of theaforementioned refineries andincessant price hike of petroleumproduct. The ad-hoc committeeheaded by Senator Bassey EwahHenshaw was given two weeks tosubmit its report.

In his contribution, SenatorUche Chukwumerije,( PPA) fromAbia State criticised formerPresident Obasanjo who asPresident, manned the petroleumindustry as Minister himself foreight years and did not achievelocal refining and was nottransparent with the cost ofimportation of petroleum products.Senator Chukwumerije furthercriticised the entire privatisationprocess and said it reduced “thiscountry to one huge plantationwhere our children will labour”.

The other motion was the onejointly moved by new-comerSenator Sylvester Anyanwu,(PDP), Imo state and SenatorAbubakar Sodangi, (PDP), from

Nasarawa State.Their motion came on the heels

of the protracted strike by theAcademic Staff Union ofUniversities, ASUU, which hadkept university students at homefor three months running.

After extensive debate, theSenate resolved that the federalgovernment respect all agreementsreached with ASUU, and thatwhen their Committee onEducation is eventuallyconstituted, the Committee shouldinitiate dialogue with theAcademic Union.

(PPA) from Abia State and 24 otherSenators calling for the release ofMr. Ralph Uwazuruike and otherleaders of the Movement for theActualisation of Sovereign State ofBiafra (MASSOB).

Inspite of the huge participationin this motion, it did not see thelight of the day as it was negativedduring debate.

The next day, another motion onincreasing rate of drop calls due toinefficiency of GSM providers wasmoved by Senator SylvesterAnyanwu (PDP-Imo State), TeslimFolarin (PDP-Oyo State),Gbemisola Saraki (PDP),KwaraState and T.U. Wada also of thePDP from Gombe State.

After a strong condemnation ofthe inefficiency of GSM providers,they urged the NigeriaCommunications Commission,(NCC), the regulatory body toinvoke the relevant sections oftheir contract agreements with theservice providers to protect theconsumers from loss of credits dueto uncompensated drop calls. Italso resolved to direct itsCommittee on Communications,when constituted to investigate theinefficiency of GSM providers.

The motion on Agonies ofDepositors of Failed Banks andFinancial Institutions brought bySenate Leader, Teslim Folarin andSylvester Anyanwu and Ayogu Eze(PDP) Enugu State was alsonegative from a unanimous ‘nay’vote.

Two other motions slated fordebate on that day were, poor stateof safety in our airports by DeputySenate President, IkeEkweremadu and Ayogu Eze. Andthe collapse of the RoadInfrastructure in Nigeria by AyoguEze and seven other Senators.

The Senate appear ready formotions and resolutions untilwhenever the Ministerial list willbe submitted to them and theirstanding committees constituted.

Senator Lee Maeba, (PDP) fromRivers State in his contributionsaid the strike was because of deepfrustration and that theeducational system in the countryhad collapsed. He stated that theeducational system was a disgraceand a shame given the amount ofresources available.

“Our educational system is a“shame and disgrace to our nation,given the amount of finances andother resources available to us”, hesaid.

The last motion was raised thenext day with yet another bySenator Uche Chukwumerije

Senator David MarkSenate President

News


The Senate has assured thatthe Freedom of Information,

(FOI) Bill, which did not receivePresidential assent beforeObasanjo left office would soon berevisited.

The bill was passed by bothchambers of the federallegislature and the conferencecommittee stage was deniedPresidential assent incontroversial circumstances asthe Presidency said it did notreceive the bill forwarded to it forMr. President’s signature.

Deputy Senate Leader,Senator Victor Udoma-Egba(SAN), however, asked, “All weknow is that we (Senate) willrevisit the issue of the FOI Billsooner than later”. Speakingfurther, he re-emphasised, “oneassurance I will like to give isthat it (FOI) is a bill that mustsee the light of the day and thisis sooner than later”.

He explained that theapproach to the bill, which hedescribed as the bill that cutsacross the entire gamut of thereform process, would depend ontheir findings. The DeputySenate Leader said if presidencyinsists that it is not in possessionof the bill, the approach will bedifferent from the presidencyseeing the bill and refusing tosign. Nevertheless, in eitherscenario, the Senate will revisitit because according to him, “it isa bill that we cannot run awayfrom because it is fundamentalto the entire reform process”.

The FOI Bill, when signed willabrogate the official secret orderact. It is aimed at allowing allNigerians access to publicinformation with the ultimatetarget at transparency andaccountability in public office.

Both the Senate and the Houseof Representatives passed thebill, a harmonisation committeewas set up to put finishingtouches and harmonise theSenate and House of

Senate promises to revisit FOI BillRepresentative’s position, whichwas done before forwarding sameto the president for his signature.

President Obasanjo who wasin office then insisted that nosuch document was on his table,and that he did not see it untilhe left office. When asked,Senator Ndoma-Egba said therewas documentary evidence toshow that the bill left theNational Assembly, but there wasno such evidence that it wasreceived in the Presidency.

The FOI Bill remains theoldest bill still pending; it wasintroduced in 1999 and up untilnow that it has not been signed.Revisiting the bill by the Senatewould not pose any problem asSenate Rule 111 has beenamended to allow Senate treatbill, which were not finished inthe previous Senate as if it werea carry over, or a continuation.

By Adoga Ugaga

Senator Ike EkweremaduDeputy Senate President

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Continued from Page 5

UNDP capacity development meeting held in Accra

doing the right thing? Are wedoing things right? What valueare we adding? He said find outwhat value, we must be preparedto question the policy framework,adding that at operational levelUNDP is doing things right butat strategic level there is achallenge.

Comments and questions thatarose from these presentationswere that, there was need forparliamentary- civil societyinterface, and how do localgovernments get integrated inorder to push their capacityagenda? Also raised the issue ofconditions given by donoragencies before providingtechnical assistance.

On UNDP’s approach tocapacity assessment, thefollowing key capacity assessment

scoping questions also came up;capacity for whom? Capacity forwhat? In addition, capacity forwhy? However, it stressed thatthe points of entry should be, theindividual, organization andenabling environmenment. Theyadded that the types of capacityinclude technical and functionalcapacities.

Other issues discussed at themeeting were; leadershipcapacities: addressing Africa’sdevelopment challenges, voiceand accountability capacities,different mandate: samecommitment to Africa’sdevelopment and the challengeof meeting the MDGs whichrequires sound policies andgovernance including goodeconomic management, broadbased public investment at scalein, education, health,agriculture etc.


The newly appointed Chairman of NigerianExtractive Industry Transparency Initiative(NEITI), Dr. Siyan Malomo led members ofthe secretariat and Executive Director ofCISLAC, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani to payadvocacy visit to the immediate past Presidentof the Senate, Ken Nnamani on the passageof the NEITI Bill.

CISLAC Team briefing members of National Assembly Press Corp on pending bills recently.

Photonews

A cross section of participants during theinteractive dinner with legislators held atTranscorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja recently.


From left: Prof. Ade Jinadu of Centre forAdvance Social Science (CASS), Dr. AfiaZakiya of National Democratic Institute(NDI) and Lillian Ekenyanwu, NationalCoordinator, Zero Corruption Coalition(ZCC) at a dialogue session between civilsociety and political parties on transparencybills early this year.

The Executive Director, CISLAC, AuwalMusa Rafsanjani presenting publications onNEITI process to the Managing Editor ofThisday Newspaper, Kayode Komolafe duringan advocacy visit by CISLAC recently.

Photonews

A UNDP facilitator taking participants through a session on capacity development workshop held in Accra, Ghana recently


Citizens’ Forum for ConstitutionalReform (CFCR), a coalition of over 200

civil society organisations with focus ongiving Nigeria a people’s constitution helda one-day conference on the review of the1999 Constitution at Gubabi Hotel, Abuja,recently.

Representatives of member CSOs as wellas Media practitioners attended theconference. Mr. Voke Igborodge of Centrefor Democracy and Development (CDD)gave the welcome remark while Mr. JohnIkubaje of CDD introduced the participants.Ms Nana Afadzino, a Country Director ofOSIWA delivered a goodwill message.

The convener of the CFCR conference,Prof. Sam Egwu of the University of Josdelivered a paper titled “The fourthRepublic and the Politics of ConstitutionReform in Nigeria: The Challenges and theWay Forward”. Naturally, questions andcomments were entertained at the end ofthe presentation, which the presenterquickly responded to.

The participants were broken into threegroups that were given the mandate tobrainstorm on what the position of CFCRshould be on the new government’s call forconstitutional reform, the procedure andprocess of the review as well as ways ofengaging the National and State Assemblieson the review process. At the end of thegroup work, the reports of the variousgroups were collapsed into one and fine-tuned. The final report formed the basis ofthe communiqué that was read out at themedia briefing and circulated to the media.

As part of the communiqué, the conferenceresolved that:

* There is urgent need for PresidentUmar Musa Yar’Adua’s government toimmediately prioritise and takeconcrete action on the review of theNigerian 1999 Constitution.

* Constitutional review should be at thetop of the legislature agenda of theNational Assembly in the next twoyears so as to provide a guaranteedfuture for Nigeria’s electoraldemocracy while addressing thenumerous ethno-religious conflicts

CFCR calls for review of 1999 ConstitutionBy Aga Bature Bem

President Umaru Yar’Adua

Issues


that are threatening andsuffocating the democraticdesires of Nigerians.

* The National Assemblymust immediatelyconstitute a joint committeeof the Senate and the Houseof Representatives onConstitutional Review torevisit the review of the1999 Constitution that washalted by the third termagenda

* Nigerians must have a finalsay on the review of the 1999 Consti-tution through a REFERENDUM.The exercise will not only guarantee apopular understanding of the NigerianConstitution, it will also go a long wayto legitimise the outcome of the reviewprocess.

* CFCR calls on President Yar’Adua’sgovernment and the leadership of theNational Assembly to ensure that theConstitutional Review process iscompleted on or before May 29 2009.The forum calls for an establishmentof a 25-member Constitutional ReviewCommission whose responsibility itwill be to collate the views of Nigerians.The membership of the commissionshould be drawn from government,civil society, professional groups,labour and students.

* The law establishing the commissionshould stipulate a time frame for itsassignment.

* The National Assembly should subjectthe outcome of the collation exerciseand the specific recommendations to a

national referendum before thepassage of the ConstitutionalAmendment bill.

* Considering the above, the forumconsiders the assurance of PresidentUmar Yar’Adua that traditional rulerswould be assigned a constitutional rolein the proposed Constitutional Reviewas pre-emptive of the Sovereign powerof the Nigerian people to determine thetype of Constitution they need.

At the end, the communiqué was read outto the conference and members of the press.Mr. Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), theExecutive Director of CISLAC coordinatedthe questions and answers session withmembers of the media.

Other members of the high table thatresponded to the questions from the mediainclude, Mr. Otive Igbuzor, the CountryDirector of ActionAid International Nigeria,Prof. Sam Egwu, Ms. Nkoto Toyo, theExecutive Director of GADA. Dr. JibrinJibo, the Director of Centre for Democracyand Development (CDD) had earlier madea brief appearance before moving to anotherassignment

Issues

“CFCR calls on President Yar’Adua’sgovernment and the leadership of theNational Assembly to ensure that theConstitutional Review process iscompleted on or before May 29 2009.The forum calls for an establishmentof a 25-member Constitutional ReviewCommission whose responsibility itwill be to collate the views of Nigerians.The membership of the commissionshould be drawn from government,civil society, professional groups,labour and students.”


T he operational document for Nigeria’sdemocracy is the 1999 constitution. This

constitution for obvious reasons, took cognisanceof the parallel principles of separation of powersand checks and balances, which were popularised

The relevance of checks andbalances in an election year

By: Aga Bature Bem discharge of governmental business including theconduct of elections.

It is a statement of fact that Nigeria has had are-occurring phobia for the sustenance ofdemocracy. The transfer of power from one civiliangovernment to another appeared a tall dreambecause of the continued interference of the

by a French scholarCharles Montesquieu.In his wisdom,Montesquieu hadargued that the abuse ofpolitical power could beaverted only if thedifferent arms ofgovernment were alloteddifferent powers in theconstitutions of nations.Democratic nations theworld over have sincefashioned out theirinstitutions ofgovernment around adeliberate separation ofpowers amongst thelegislature, executiveand judiciary.

The crafters ofNigeria’s 1999constitution concurredwith Montesquieu’sprinciples and expressly

vested diverse powers in the Executive, Legislatureand Judiciary accordingly. The 1999 constitutionin section 4 unambiguously vested the powers tomake laws in Nigeria’s bicameral Legislature. Inthe same vein section, 5 of the constitution vestedthe powers for policy formulation andimplementation in the Executive. The Judiciarywas in no way left out of this distribution ofconstitutional responsibilities as section 6 of thesame constitution vested all judicial powers fordispute resolution in the courts. This separationof powers is expected to aid the three arms ofgovernment in checkmating each other in their

military in thedemocratic process. The1999 transfer of powerfrom the military to thePeoples Democratic Party(PDP) led government ofGeneral OlusegunObasanjo signalled a newera in democraticsustainability in Nigeria.The elections of that yearwere not perfect butNigerians were in a hurryto forget the aberrationthat the continuous ruleof the militaryr e p r e s e n t e d .Consequently, Obasanjo’sgovernment was usheredin with tremendousgoodwill. It was thebelieve of most Nigeriansthat the 2003 electionswhich were next in linewould be more credible as

the democratic process would have grownconsiderably.

Nigerians were full of enthusiasm as the 2003elections approached; this was largely because theopportunity of breaking the initial jinx of civilian-to-civilian transfer of power was with us again. TheIndependent National Electoral Commission underthe leadership of Dr. Abel Guobadia promisedNigerians free, fair and credible elections. TheNational Assembly played its constitutional roleof enacting the Electoral Act, which was not exactlyflawless. The Executive followed suit as they setout to implement the electoral act. The Executive

Prof. Maurice IwuINEC Chairman

Issues


ensured the release of funds to INEC and mobilisedsecurity operatives to ensure the sanctity of theprocess by protecting the lives and properties ofNigerians, during and after the elections.

The conduct of the 2003 elections broke thehearts of Nigerians, as it appeared they had raisedtheir hopes too high. The process was characterisedby all kinds of irregularities, logistics problemsrigging and insecurity. It was now time for theJudiciary to play its role of dispute resolutionthrough the Elections petitions tribunals and thecourts. There is no gain saying the judiciary had abad outing that time. Some judges were to be latersanctioned for compromising judgements inexchange for gratification. The 2003 elections cameand left oned o m i n a n timpression inthe minds ofNigerians. Thethree arms ofg o v e r n m e n thad failed toe f f e c t i v e l ycheck eacho t h e r ’ sinefficienciesand excesses.

The muchexpected 2007elections arehere, I havede l iberate lyrefused to saythe electionshave come and gone because, the post electionlitigations which are on presently are very muchpart of the electoral process. The Legislaturesignalled the beginning of the 2007 elections bypassing the Electoral Act 2006. The executive tookthe next course of action by mobilising securityforces and helping out the Maurice Iwu ledIndependent National Electoral Commission(INEC) in its conduct of the elections.

In the weeks and months leading to theelections, the opposition parties had cause toquestion the neutrality of INEC. This was sobecause INEC appeared to be mounting roadblocksin the way of opposition candidates. This wasmoreso as the commission strived to disqualifyopposition candidates who were indicted by the

EFCC advisory list. The courts at this stage hadan effective check on INEC via the Supreme Court’sjudgement that INEC had no power to disqualifycandidates. INEC repeatedly disregarded theprovisions of the electoral act in the conduct of theelection, an example of this is the late or non-display of voters registers.

The conduct of the 2007 polls can better beimagined. The conduct of the polls according toreligious organisations, Civil Society, the NigerianBar Association, the Nigeria Labour Congress,Trade Union Congress and International observersfell short of minimum acceptable standards. Thepolls were characterised by INEC’s refusal to bringout voting materials in some places, hoarding of

ballot papers,snatching ofballot boxes,violence, riggingand intimidation.The oppositionreadily pointedaccusing fingersat the PDP, INECand securityoperatives asbeing theproponents ofthis uncharitablecrusade.

The 2007elections has sofar drawnn e g a t i v ereactions from

the following observer groups, the European UnionElection Observer Mission (EUEOM), Council forForeign Relations (CFR), Centre for Democracy andDevelopment (CDD), International RepublicanInstitute (IRI), Commonwealth Election ObserverMission (CEOM), Election Reforms Network(ERN), Transition Monitoring Group (TMG),International Crisis Group (ICG), InternationalFederation of Election System (IFES), HumanRights Watch (HRW), National DemocraticInstitute (NDI), the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA), Campaign for Democracy (CD).

The British Trade Union Congress in solidaritywith the NLC asked for an outright cancellation ofthe elections via a letter to INEC Chairman, Prof.Maurice Iwu. A statement from the Elie Wiesel

Issues

“The Judiciary must understand and appreciate themagnitude of responsibility before them. It is truethat in the weeks and months before now, theJudiciary has conducted its self creditably but asit is today, the Nigerian people are not ready to giveany arm of government a blank cheque. The badtaste the conduct of the 2007 elections left in themouths of Nigerians is very fresh. Any attempt bythe Judiciary to deny Nigerian’s justice would meanit has failed in its role to check the excesses of INECand the executive. A denial of justice will also bean invitation to anarchy. It is time for the judiciaryto sanction the conduct of the 2007 electionsthrough an effective application of checks on thetwo arms of government that have already playedtheir roles in the conduct of the elections.”


Foundation (EWF) read as follows, “Bogus electionsraise serious questions about the new government’slegitimacy. The best way to prevent violent conflictis through electoral reform and a new ballot.” Onthe 24th of May 2007, the European Unionparliament joined the fray in a non-bindingresolution to the European Union (EU) where theyasked the EU to withhold all aids to the Nigeriangovernment until fresh elections are held. A groupof 48 noble laureates including Desmond Tutu andWole Soyinka had earlier condemned the conductof the elections and called for fresh polls within 18months.

Senate President Ken Nnamani while receivingthe National Democratic Institute (NDI) delegationled by formerUnited StatesSecretary ofS t a t e ,M a d e l e n eA l b r i g h t ,recalled thevarious illsassociated withthe elections.He wasp r o b a b l yspeaking in hiscapacity as thehead of anindependentarm ofgovernment ,the Legislature.His commentsattracted serious condemnations from the federalgovernment and his party, the Peoples DemocraticParty. Our constitution not only allows a freedomof speech for all citizens, it allows the legislature,which Nnamani headed to check the Executive andJudiciary and vice versa. It has been the culture ofgovernment to unleash abominable no-men to labelcritics as enemies of democracy. Instead of givingexplanations to the issues raised by critics thisabominable no-men who are mostly armchairstrategist churn out disturbing bafflegab much tothe amazement of everybody.

In conclusion, I would like to say the Legislatureand Executive have played the constitutional rolesin the conduct of the 2007 elections. This is sobecause once INEC announces elections results,

only the Judiciary can upturn or annul them. Asmuch as protests may be the right of the Nigerianpeople, we must not fail to remember thatconstitutionally only the Legislature holds the keyto justice. It gladdens my heart that aggrievedpoliticians have not taken to violence, the electionspetitions tribunals and the courts are the places togo.

The Judiciary must understand and appreciatethe magnitude of responsibility before them. It istrue that in the weeks and months before now, theJudiciary has conducted its self creditably but as itis today, the Nigerian people are not ready to giveany arm of government a blank cheque. The badtaste the conduct of the 2007 elections left in the

mouths ofNigerians is veryfresh. Anyattempt by theJudiciary to denyNigerian’s justicewould mean it hasfailed in its role tocheck the excessesof INEC and theexecutive. Adenial of justicewill also be aninvitation toanarchy. It is timefor the judiciary tosanction theconduct of the2007 electionsthrough an

effective application of checks on the two arms ofgovernment that have already played their rolesin the conduct of the elections.

The judiciary is in a unique position to checkthe excesses of the legislature by voiding allunconstitutional sections of the electoral act. Theexecutive will be checked by upturning andannulling questionable elections which whereconducted by INEC under its watch. The excessesof security operatives are another cross theexecutive will have to bear. For Justice Kutigi, hisfellow justices of the Supreme Court, Justices ofthe Court of Appeal including Judges and membersof the various Tribunals; the time to correct the illsof the 2007 elections is now. Your time of glory ishere.

Issues

“The judiciary is in a unique position to checkthe excesses of the legislature by voiding allunconstitutional sections of the electoral act.The executive will be checked by upturningand annulling questionable elections whichwhere conducted by INEC under its watch.The excesses of security operatives areanother cross the executive will have to bear.For Justice Kutigi, his fellow justices of theSupreme Court, Justices of the Court ofAppeal including Judges and members of thevarious Tribunals; the time to correct the illsof the 2007 elections is now. Your time of gloryis here.”


suspended from further sittingsfor a specified period. If asimilar situation arises again,the action taken in the firstinstance becomes a point ofreference for the present action.This need not be in the standingorders.

The rules and ethics of theHouse are intended to instildecorum. Without theproficiency of those rules andethics, the proceedings of theHouse would be disorderly andthe legislators will turn into amotely crowd.

Among those rules and ethicsthat enhance better legislationin the House are the following:• The allocation of seats to

every Member, where he orshe is supposed to sit andshall not at any time stand inany of the passages organgways.

• Every Member shall makeobeisance to the Chair inpassing to or from their seat.

• Members shall not cross thefloor of the Houseunnecessarily nor sit in aplace allotted to any otherMember.

• Members shall take care notto pass between the Chairand any Member who isspeaking or between theChair and the Mace.

• When a Member is speaking,no Member may convenealoud or make any noise ordisturbance to interrupt himor her.

• During a sitting, all Membersshall be silent or shall conferonly in undertones.

• When the Speaker is puttingthe questions, no Membermay walk out or cross theChamber

• Members shall attend thesitting of the House properlydressed.

• No Member shall be allowedto smoke, chew or drink uponthe floor of the House.

• Debate upon any motion, Billor amendment shall berelevant to such motion, Billor amendment except in thecase of a substantive motionfor the adjournment of theHouse.

• It shall be out of order to useoffensive and insultinglanguage about Members ofthe House.

• No Member shall imputeimproper motives to any otherMembers; and

• Members are to attend thesittings of the House regularlyto the best of their abilityThe Speaker, or a Member

may immediately call anyMember deviating from theabove provisions to order byraising a point of order to directattention to the point to bebrought to the Speaker fordecision.

In instances where rules arenot followed, there could be asituation of uproar even on theFloor of the House. This willdefinitely have an effect on thequality of the legislationattended to at such a time. Thisis so in that the attention oflegislators will be disturbed andthe contribution of Members willtherefore become weak and notproperly articulated. This is areason why some laws are passedand are not executed, but arethere dormant in the pages oflaw

Decorum as an important partof the rules and ethics is expectedto be maintained by eachlegislator. Where this is absentit may attract sanction. Therehave been occasions wherelegislators were suspended fromthe House because of die way andmanner they conductedthemselves.

I have quoted copiously fromthe standing orders of tie Houseto buttress the claims thatconduct of legislative business isregulated by rules and ethics ofthe House.

Passage of BillsIn addition, there are rigid

procedures for the passage ofBills into laws, and motions intoresolutions. These procedureshave long been part of theLegislative culture, e.g. that aBill must undergo threereadings before becoming law.

It is incumbent on thelegislators to observe these rulesand on the Presiding Officer toenhance them for betterlegislation. This is why the rulesand ethics are put in place toregulate the activities of theHouse. It is hoped that theNational Assembly and the stateHouses of Assembly willcontinue to make themselvesproficient for better legislation.

Beside the application of therules of the House, Membersshould be exposed to bothinternal and external trainingprogrammes in the form ofseminars, workshops andconferences so that they can betaught the art of legislation.This is very germane becauseMembers, especially in Nigeria,unlike their counterparts indeveloped countries, are notalways given chances to developfrom local councillors to statelegislators to National Assemblylegislators. When given thechance to attend relevanttraining programmes, theirknowledge of legislativeprocedures and practicesimproves, thereby improving onthe proficiency of the Membersin the performance of theirlegislative duties.

The art of complying withrules and ethics is a veryimportant aspect of law making.If any legislator behavesotherwise this will attract thesanction of the House. Thestanding orders of the Housethrow sufficient light on how toact in this regard.

Hon. Aberemi was the Speaker of the Ekitistate House of Assembly.

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For the Records


Compliance with rules andethics for better legislation

Legislative powers in Nigeriaare rested in the

Legislature and the execution ofthe laws is the responsibility ofthe executive. The Legislatureat the national level comprisesof the Senate and House ofRepresentatives. The 1999-constitution states m section4(2): “That National Assemblyshall have power to make lawsfor the peace, order and goodgovernment of the federationwith respect to any matterincluded in the exclusivelegislative list set out in part Iof the second schedule to thisconstitution”. The secondschedule lists 68 such exclusivelegislative items.

Section 6 of the constitutionstates that “the legislativepowers of a state of thefederation shall he rested in theHouse of Assembly of the state”.Specifically: The House ofAssembly of a state shall havepower to make laws for thepeace, order and goodgovernment of the state or anypart thereof with respect to thefollowing matters, that is to(i) Any matter not included

exclusive list set out in partthe second schedule to thisconstitution;

(ii) Any matter included in theconcurrent legislative listsset out in the first columnof part 11 of the secondschedule to thisconstitution to the extentprescribed in the secondcolumn, and

(iii) Any other matter withrespect to which it isempowered to make laws inaccordance with the provi-sions of the constitution.

Rt Hon. Friday Aberemi The concurrent legislative listcontains 30 items on which theNational Assembly and the stateAssembly can exerciseconcurrent powers of legislation.

Furthermore, all residualpowers, i.e. items by omission orcommission not included in bothexclusive and concurrent lists,belong to the state Assembly.

This establishes unambi-guously that legislative powers

are derived from the constitution.In the performance of its lawmaking function, the Legislaturemust operate and comply withestablished rules, procedures,customs and conventions. Thisrule of law making must be seenas fair and orderly. In passing aBill into lass, it must followprocedural steps. The relevantstanding committees must befunctional and thorough.

At this point of our democraticexperience, the citizens ofNigeria arc becomingappreciative of the importance ofthe Legislature in governance.They are increasingly of, anddeveloping fast, a democraticculture.

Compliance with rulesThe Legislature needs to

ensure the compliance of itsrules and ethics to enhancebetter legislation. Rules, normsand precedent that enhance itsoperation guide the Legislature.

Among the rules and ethicsof the House are the standingorders, customs, precedents andrulings from the Chair, tomention just a few. The Houseis constitutionally empowered tomake its own rules iii the formof the standing orders.

The two main tasks of aLegislature are the passing ofmotions into resolutions and thepassage of Hills into laws. Theseinvolve the proper applicationsof relevant aspects of rules orstanding orders, customs,precedents and Speaker orChairman’s rulings.

Standing orders are made bya Legislature to regulate itsproceedings, providing a code ofprocedure to make the ruleseasy for application when theAssembly is performing itslegislative tasks.

Customs are usages thatbecome permanentlyestablished. An example wouldbe that before the Speakerenters the chamber, Sergeant-AtArms carrying the Mace, whichis the symbol of the authority ofthe House, must escort in himor her. The Assembly’s authorityvests in die Sergeant-At-Anusthe power to arrest personswithout a warrant should theneed arise.

A precedent is a past instancethat may serve as an example.If there is an occurrence on thefloor of the louse, especially ifMember are unruly during asession, they can be ejected or

Continued on Page 15

For the Records

“The art of complyingwith rules and ethicsis a very importantaspect of law making.If any legislatorbehaves otherwisethis will attract thesanction of the House.The standing ordersof the House throwsufficient light onhow to act in thisregard.”

Documents

A Publication of CISLAC Vol. 1 No. 9. June, 2007 … · A Publication of CISLAC Vol. 1 No. 9. June, 2007 P resident Umar Musa Yar’Adua on June 27th, 2007 wrote both chambers of