Again Senate sittings in plenary fall short by 41 days in the last legislative year, Daily Trust analysis has revealed.
Section 63 of the Constitution requires both chambers of the National Assembly to sit for at least 181 days in a year.
The National Assembly operates a calendar that begins from June and sits in plenary for three days from Tuesdays to Thursdays while committees hold sessions throughout the week.
The Assembly marked the third legislative year on June 6, and the legislative calendar released by the Senate indicates that senators sat for 189 in the past one year.
But checks by Daily Trust show that the records, as presented to the public, do not add up.
Analysis of the document indicates that the committee sittings were not counted as part of the 189 days the upper chamber sat, meaning that only the plenary session is considered, our correspondent reports.
However, the 141 days record is still an improvement on the 2012 performance during which the Senate sat for only 100 days and spent 158 days on holidays.
One factor, which might have contributed to the fewer sitting days by legislators in the red chamber, is the fact that on many occasions they usually adjourned plenary on Wednesday as many of them do jet out of Abuja on Thursday and return on Mondays, our correspondent reports.
Documents obtained by Daily Trust show that, within the last legislative year, the Senate embarked on recess a record 10 times as officially recorded. But close scrutiny of the holidays also reveals that they had gone on break on 10 other occasions.
When contacted for comment, Senate spokesman Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe (PDP, Abia) said he was not in a position to speak on the issue and referred our reporter to Chairman Senate Committee on Rules and Business Senator Ita Enang (PDP, Akwa Ibom).
However, Senator Enang declined to comment saying he must first see the calendar and how Daily Trust arrived at its analysis.
“Unless I see the adjournments by your calculation, and I do my calculation I will not be able to comment. I can’t do that on the telephone. When we meet I will show you my calendar and you show me yours. I cannot speak on phone because it is not with me,” Senator Enang said.
Adjournments
Between June 7 and June 24, 2013, Senators went on 12-day break to mark the end of their second legislative calendar and a month later proceeded on their annual recess of seven weeks from July 2 to September 17.
On July 2nd last year, senators adjourned sittings in honour of Senator Pious Ehwerido from Delta State who died of heart attack two days earlier.
Other holidays embarked by the upper chamber include, three days Independent Day Holiday in October; Id-el-Fitri break 12 days as against the six days officially recorded, and 21 days Christmas and New Year break.
Also, on January 15 this year, just after resumption from the Christmas and New Year recess, the Senate abruptly adjourned sitting for another week over defections of 12 senators from the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
Between February 21 and March 11, the Senate adjourned plenary for sub-committees on Appropriation to work on the 2014 budget.
On three occasions, the Senate adjourned plenary sittings to allow members of the opposition APC participate in their party’s activities which included membership registration between January 27 to February 2nd; ward congresses on March 15 and local government congresses between March 24 and 26.
In early May, when President Goodluck Jonathan requested for the extension of emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the session, also adjourned sitting for two days to allow Senate President David Mark to return from a foreign trip. It was also a ploy buy time for lobbying of MPs, observers said.
Also in May, the Senate went on two days recess between May 6 and 7 for the World Economic Forum in Abuja, on May 1st they were also away for the workers day celebrations, May 29 for democracy day and another 6 days from May 30 to June 6 marking the end of the third legislative year.
“Lawbreakers”
Commenting on the issue, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), said although the lawmakers may have genuine reasons for the incessant adjournments of their plenary sittings, they have the moral burden of leading by example so that they can be in a better position to check excesses of the government and its agencies.
“It is expected that National Assembly members, as empowered by our constitution to make laws for Nigerians, should equally be the first set of people or institution to comply with the provisions of our laws which they enact and ensure effective compliance through oversight on government policies, programmes, laws and strategic positive interventions,” he said.
Rafsanjani lamented that it is of a great concern to Nigerians that sometimes there appears to be a failure to always stick to provision of the constitution which says National Assembly should sit for 181 days. “Even though there may be some genuine reasons but I think effort must always be made to fulfil this constitutional provision. There are too much holidays in Nigeria and the National Assembly members can minimise these holidays just to ensure that they meet up with the required number of days as required.”
“This is not the first time we see failure to meet up with this constitutional provision of sitting for 181 days within a legislative calendar but some time the responses we get from the National Assembly is rather hostile when faced with this question on why they are not meeting with the constitutional provision instead of explaining to Nigerians why such provision is not met and make effort to fulfil it.”
He said they have long observed that some members are not really interested in the legislative work but just using the opportunity and privileges of being in the National Assembly for personal interest.
“That is why you don’t see some of them carrying out legislative work on constituency outreach, legislative oversight, representation and participation in the law making for good governance.”
Rafsanjani said “some don’t really understand the legislative work and make no effort to learn because their purpose of coming there is to take privileges and protect their status in the society, especially at the Senate chamber. It is clear some of them use their National Assembly membership for personal business rather than helping to contribute to make Nigeria great.”
Source: Daily Trust
