Dimeji Bankole, a former speaker of the House of Representatives said the high turnover rate of lawmakers has a negative effect on the institution of the legislature, democracy and governance of the country and it can delay national development.
Bankole said this trend implies that the legislature has been unable to develop its institutional and human capacity as new members are re-elected every four years while legislators have hardly developed an understanding of the legislature before they are changed.
This, the former speaker said negatively impacts legislative capacity as some of the most experienced Legislators are not often returned.
He made these assertions in a lecture titled: ‘Legislative Turn Over and Effects on Institution Building and National Development’, delivered at the 6th Convocation Ceremony of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, University of Benin Post Graduate Programmes in Abuja on Monday.
Bankole argued that a weak legislature cannot sufficiently hold the executive to account, and the quality of debates and legislative outputs are likely to be equally poor.
The former lawmaker said, lower turnover rate would have significantly improved legislative performance by contributing to increasing the institutional knowledge base or intellectual capital of the National Assembly.
He said: “Another critical effect of turnover is that it can constitute a major source of distraction for legislators, who, cognisant of their limited time in the legislature, opt to focus on personal pursuits rather than core legislative work. The ‘turn-by-turn’ mentality results in a rush to the bottom as politicians chase immediate personal and monetary gains to the detriment of the constituents that elected them.
“Turnover also impacts the scarce resources available to the legislature as substantial funds and expended in building the capacity of new legislators, even in some of the most rudimentary aspects pf legislative work. The strain on resources also means that resources that could otherwise go into the actual work of lawmaking and oversight are spent on workshops, exchange of experience visits, and other related capacity-building activities and only for these same members to be replaced at the next election.
“In addition, vast amounts of resources are designated for induction programmes both by the government and development partners.”
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In their separate remarks, Ahmad Lawan, President of the Senate and Femi Gbajabimila, Speaker of the House said the leadership of the National Assembly would ensure the completion of National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) permanent site by next year.
Gbajabimila said: “The leadership of the 9th National Assembly is therefore prepared to make provision in the 2023 budget for the completion and commissioning of the Institute’s permanent site by His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR before the end of this administration.
“The 9th National Assembly have prioritised education at all levels in our legislative agenda. We have worked wholistically to reduce the number and incidence of out-of-school children, improve child health and education and strengthen universal basic education, and tertiary education.”
In his welcome remarks, Abubakar Sulaiman, the NILDS director general said 87 candidates have been awarded Master’s Degree, Post Graduate and Higher National Diplomas certificate at the 6th convocation, disclosing that the institute is set to introduce a master’s degree in Cooperate Governance.
Sulaiman said: “We gather here today to celebrate the graduation of who have been certified in both character and learning by the authorities of NILDS and University of Benin in the following master’s degree programmes; 30 candidates for Master’s Degree in Legislative Studies, 8 candidates for Master’s Degree in Legislative Drafting, 19 candidates for Master’s Degree in Parliamentary Administration, 13 candidates for Master’s Degree in Elections and Party Politics and 11 candidates in PGD in Political Party Management.
“The Higher National Diploma (HND) in official reporting has 6 candidates. A greater percentage of the enrolees in the programmes are from the National Assembly. These included legislators, legislative staff serving in various capacities (including committee clerks and staff, research staff, chamber staff and drafters, etc.) as well as legislative aides. The programmes have been largely accepted, impactful and successful as observed in the rising number of non-parliamentary staff admitted into the various programmes this year alone.
“In light of the tremendous success of the current master’s programmes, I am glad to inform this congregation that the institute is set to introduce a master’s degree in Cooperate Governance in a tripod collaboration with Institute for Chattered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) and University of Benin. This is already at the level of implementation.
“The institute also recently commenced PhD programmes in all the specialized area of legislation and democracy with Federal University Lokoja. This is aimed at providing opportunities for our graduands in the pursuit of further legislative knowledge and research.
“The Institute has also commenced implementation of the NBTE approval in running HND programme in Parliamentary Administration. The HND Programme is intended to address the needs of the lower and middle-level staff of the National Assembly and the legislature as a whole. This will build a pool of competent staff and members to enhance international good practices in the discharge of their duties.”
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