| Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila |
The House of Representatives has unfolded its legislative agenda for 2019 to 2023 with a resolve to strengthen anti corruption agencies in the country, saying existing anti-corruption laws in the country has not given the anti-graft bodies enough power to investigate and prosecute corruption cases.
The House legislative agenda says that the nation’s anti corruption laws are not strong enough and has not helped in the fight against corruption as The strength of The law has been largely responsible for the slow pace of prosecution of corruption cases.
The House legislative agenda which was adopted at Thursday’s seating of the House also indicate the resolve of house to revisit in a holistic manner, laws, policies and investments in the nation’s power sector, while ensuring that get the worth of their money in the power delivery.
Items to attract the attention of the House, according to the 58 paged document prepared by an Adhoc committee led by hon. Julius Ihonvbare and deliberated upon and approved by the lawmakers include Reform of the House of Representatives; Social Justice; sustainable power; environment and climate change.
Others are economic growth, development and job creation; gender; education reform; anti corruption; sustainable agricultural development and food security; security; open governance, transparency and accountability; Internally Displaced Persons; public health; media and national development as well as national budget.
In his statement of purpose, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila lamented that twenty years into the present democratic endeavours, the promise and benefits of democracy are yet to be fully felt in the lives of many of our citizens.
The Speaker said “In this 9th House of Representatives, the “Peoples’ Assembly”, we have a clear mandate: to make better the lives of our citizens and bring home the long-promised benefits of democracy.
“We are called to give voice to the yearnings of our people, and we will, through effective execution of our constitutional responsibilities of law-making, representation and oversight. We will open them legislative process to effective citizen participation and involvement so that our people, on whose behalf we serve may become our real partners in democracy and in progress.
“More than law-making and oversight, our highest obligation in this House of Representatives is to restore public trust in the political process, and in government. Corruption in public service has caused many Nigerians to lose faith in the ability of government to deliver real development, protect those who need protection and build the ladder of opportunity for those who wish to climb it.
“Restoring faith in government requires that we begin to deliver on the promises we have made and that in doing so, we conduct ourselves with dignity and probity so that in our words and deeds, we are never found wanting.
“This will begin with reforming the activities of the House of Representatives, opening our internal debates to public scrutiny, taking individual ownership of the votes we take in the House and ensuring transparency and accountability.
“In undertaking this journey of reform, we are united in spirit and purpose as one people irrespective of fault lines and political leanings. Hence, we have tagged our mission of Nation Building, a joint task.
“As we launch this Legislative Agenda for the 9th House of Representatives, we do so fully expecting that at the end of our term in office, the Nigerian people will look to this document, and we will be judged by how well we have done in keeping the promises we have freely made. Our goals are clear, and our determination is not in question. Let us go forth and make ourselves deserving of the awesome mandate that has been entrusted to us by God and by the Nigerian people.”
The Legislative Agenda is a declaration of the intent of members of the House to serve the country with dedication, focusing our considerable energies on those issues that most affect the lives of our citizens.
The House is also to “pay special attention to the vexing issues of rape, violence against women and child abuse. We are prepared to partner with development partners, human rights organisations, religious leaders, and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to firmly address this malady.
“Similarly, issues of wealth and job creation, mass housing, access to water, education reforms especially at the basic level, social and food security, prison reforms, the conditions of internally displaced persons, protection of the girl child, environmental protection, and socio-economic and cultural rights will form part of the core of our interest and concern in the 9th Assembly.”
The document said “For decades corruption has been the bane of our national development. We have seen the policymaking process distorted and compromised to produce policy outcomes expressly designed to serve the interests of the few at the expense of the many whilst resources for development and security, healthcare and education are diverted to enrich the private interests of public officials.
“The private sector has not been spared as corruption has continued to limit their ability to make the breakthroughs required for industrialisation and growth. Until we put in place a system that punishes acts of public corruption quickly and decisively, the Nigerian people will never be convinced of our commitment to rid ourselves of corrupt tendencies.
“Until we have rid ourselves of corruption, our national growth will remain stunted by the actions of those who will choose to place personal interests over the public trust.”
It stressed that “a fundamental problem with anti-corruption law enforcement in Nigeria is that the laws we use to prosecute and charge public corruption are often not designed primarily for that purpose. Prosecutors are left to repurpose anti money laundering laws and other such financial crimes legislation to prosecute public corruption.
“The House of Representatives will seek to correct this by working with the Nigeria Bar Association, The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to design a new Omnibus Corruption and Racketeering in Public Service law that will allow for expedited indictment and prosecution of public officials suspected of acts of misappropriation, misconduct or criminality however defined.
“The House will further examine the possibility of establishing, through legislation, and (or) constitutional amendment, Special Courts for the prosecution of public corruption cases under the proposed Omnibus Corruption and Racketeering in Public Service law in the same way that special tribunals are used for election petition matters. The special courts will allow for an expedited process of investigation, indictment and prosecution to allow for rapid dispensation of these matters.
“The House will seek to amend the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Act to allow for appointment of qualified persons from the judiciary, academia, legal practice etc., to lead the Commission, instead of the current practice that allows for only current or former security and law enforcement personnel to be appointed to Chair the Commission.
“The House of Representatives will seek to increase funding to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) for recruitment of lawyers and forensic accountants with expertise in investigation and prosecution of crimes of financial misappropriation and public corruption.
“We will further seek, through legislation, to ensure that the Commissions can engage foreign and local experts and partners to aid in the investigation and prosecution of crimes.
The document, a copy of which was obtained by The Nation stressed that “our prisons are overburdened by thousands of inmates who having never been convicted, are incarcerated while awaiting trial. In some cases, the incarceration lasts for much longer than they would have been had they been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction.
“The House of Representatives will seek to pass a Prisoners’ Rights Act to enshrine into law protection of the rights of prisoners. The House will further seek review of the statutory framework for establishment, maintenance and control of prisons.
“We will engage the Legal Aid Council (LAC) in efforts to ensure that persons accused of crimes are provided with competent legal counsel at the earliest stages of the process to prevent abuse of police authority, wrongful convictions and the damage to individuals and communities that derive therefrom.”
On epileptic power supply in the country, the House said that a constant, cost-effective power supply remain an integral part of economic development of any nation, lamenting however that “in Nigeria, we have not yet begun to generate or distribute sufficient power to meet present needs or provide for future demand.
“This paucity of power generation negatively affects productivity sectors from large industry to small and medium scale enterprises resulting in measurable adverse effects on economic productivity, industrial sustainability and general prices of goods and services.
“Getting things right with electricity generation, transmission and distribution will drastically improve our economic outlook and is essential to put us on the path of sustained economic development.
“Our concern as a House is to address the sub-structural issues, mitigating against improved performance in the sector despite the huge sums of money expended by the government. The House will revisit in holistic manner laws, policies and investments including the roles of the Power Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and Power Generating Companies (GENCOs).”
In doing this, the House said it will initiate a comprehensive review of all legislation relating to the power sector in Nigeria and engage all stakeholders in the industry and take all necessary steps to guarantee that the views of business are considered in the process.
The House said it will also step up its oversight functions to ensure that the funds allocated to the development of the power industry are judiciously and effectively employed, adding that “the mismanagement and misuse of funds are also one of the issues crippling electricity development in Nigeria.
“All records of legislative proceedings and documents with respect to the energy sector, particularly those related to misuse of funds would be reviewed for onward legislative deliberations and resolutions. That is, oversight should ensure that there is no diversion of funds meant for our electricity.
“This House will use the legislative instrument to mandate allocation of pre-paid meter to all consumers. Currently, less than 20% of electricity consumers in Nigeria are on a prepaid meter system. This is an inefficient arrangement that places an undue burden on end-users of electricity. This must stop.
“All electricity consumers in Nigeria must be provided with prepaid meters within a fixed period. We would seek to enforce a comprehensive ban on the practice of estimated billing and make it impossible for distribution companies (DISCOs) to continue to take undue advantage of consumers.
“This House will further seek to pass legislation that will provide enabling grounds for the development of local engineering capacity and encourage technological advancement of Nigerian Universities in the area of engineering technology and enable Federal government to actively exercise control over privatised yet inefficient power companies and encourage and assist capable market players and investors take over ineffective ones.
“Support full commercialisation of the industry to attract new capital and advanced technology and encourage investors in power generation to distribute directly to consumers or where the law insists that they must continue to supply to the national grid alone, then there must be guaranteed payment for power supplies from the Federal Government
“The House will make laws that would expand the energy source mix for power generation and mandate significant government investment in renewable energy sources and infrastructure. The House will revisit all efforts and commitment to renewable energy with the intent to develop a viable alternative contribution to the national grid.
“Nigeria’s potential capacity in renewable energy will be expanded and utilized, most especially solar, geothermal, and wind that are in abundance in various parts of our great country. Currently, only a handful of licenses exist in the country and regulatory bottlenecks are hampering take-off. If we are to meet the set target, there would be a need to review existing legislation in order to attract more players into the green energy industry.”