Earlier today at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel and Towers, Abuja, Distinguished Senator Ahmad Lawan in the company of scores of senators-elect and other dignitaries unveiled his vision for @nassnigeria
Although not exhaustive, the vision encapsulates what will form the basis of his leadership at the National Assembly which commences on Tuesday, 11th June, 2019.
It outlines the strategic direction that the Senator Ahmad Lawan-led Senate intends to take over the next four years.
It has 7 broad objectives known as the 'Legislative Agenda' of the 9th Senate. They include:
1. Reposition the Senate to carry out its constitutional duties of legislation, oversight and representation in an open and transparent manner;
2. Strengthen the internal operations and processes of the Committees of the Senate towards efficient service delivery;
3. Take legislative action to improve national economic conditions including public finance management and national security architecture and to reduce poverty, unemployment and infrastructure deficits;
4. Propose and implement a national planning and annual budget process that fosters collaboration between the executive and legislative arms of government;
5. Continue with legislative action to bring to closure all outstanding legislation including the electoral act and constitution amendments bills;
6. Deploy the use of information and communications technology in the conduct of the Senate’s legislative and administrative business;
7. Provide effective public communications and ensure engagement and collaboration with Civil Society Organizations and constituents.
In the pursuit of these objectives, the 9th Senate will work with the House of Representatives and State Houses of Assembly to pass bills that support government reform efforts aimed at employment generation and poverty reduction, amongst other targets. In the pursuit of these objectives, the 9th Senate will work with the House of Representatives and State Houses of Assembly to pass bills that support government reform efforts aimed at employment generation and poverty reduction, amongst other targets.
The 7 broad objectives are further captured in three specific areas of action which includes IMPROVING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY AND CAPABILITIES OF THE SENATE FOR EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE; LEGISLATIVE INTERVENTIONS FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE and OTHER AREAS OF CONCERN all explained below
1. IMPROVING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY AND CAPABILITIES OF THE SENATE FOR EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE
1.1 Institutional Diagnosis
The 9th Senate will start with an assessment of its structural and functional organogram, policies, processes, people, technology, financial resources and physical assets to determine whether they are adequate for the management of and if current resource-loading is sufficient.
1.2 Legislative Processes
The legislative process enhancement will aim to achieve improved quality of bills and motions through the following initiatives and innovations.
1.2.2 Enhancement of Internal Operations of Committees
Regular status review of committees is essential in developing a response to current and inherited obstacles to their effective performance and to strengthen and improve them. With this, committees will be re-invigorated to function optimally as drivers of the legislative agenda.
1.2.2.2 Operational Efficiency and Compliance
Standard Operations Procedures (SOPs) will be developed with clearly- defined tools for each committee. This will involve the development of instruments, formats, templates, manuals and guidelines for established protocols for meetings, public hearings, oversight visits and reporting.
1.2.2.3 Performance of the Committees
Committees shall be required to render sessional reports and reports on oversight visits at plenary for the Senate to collectively appraise the challenges committees face in performing their functions.
1.2.2.4 Funding of Committees
Funding of committee activities such as special investigations, oversight and public hearings will be a priority of the 9th Senate. To avoid influence and interference by MDAs, adequate financial provision will be made available to the committees for the execution of their oversight activities.
1.2.2.5 Communications and Public Relations
Committees of the 9th Senate will be encouraged to communicate effectively in their oversight functions by sharing reports of their findings and through formal media briefings where questions may be fielded. The 9th Senate welcomes the contributions of Civil Society Organisations in important activities of the committees.
1.3 Strengthening of Oversight Functions
Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution empower the Senate to investigate the conduct of government business and expose corruption and inefficiency. In the 9th Senate, oversight functions will be conducted in a structured manner. Before undertaking oversight visitations, reports from government agencies will be reviewed and analysed.
1.3.1 Capacity Building for Senators and NASS Staff
Working collaboratively with NILDS, the Senate will undertake a Training Needs Assessment of all its departments and agencies to determine the areas of skills acquisition required for members and their staff to perform optimally.
1.4 Staff Welfare and Improved Industrial Relations
The 9th Senate will pay special attention to the recurring challenge of industrial unrest amongst the staff of the National Assembly, the legislative aides of Senators, and the staff of the National Assembly Service Commission. Dialogue will be encouraged until all issues are resolved in the best interest of all parties concerned.
1.5 Planning and Budgeting Process Reform
The current national planning and annual budgeting process requires substantial reform in order to restore its integrity in the eyes of Nigerians. To this end, the Senate will pursue an aggressive planning and budget process reform agenda.
1.6 Open NASS and Budget Transparency
To effectively address the crisis of confidence btw the Senate and the public, the Senate shall adopt a transparent and accountable system that offers full disclosure of its budget in terms of personnel costs, operational expenses/expenditure.
1.7 ICT-enabled Senate
The 9th Senate will employ modern information technology to improve the efficiency of its legislative and administrative operations. Some of the propositions include the following:
1.7.1. Intranet & Electronic Noticeboards
The 9th Senate will work towards improved internal communication amongst Senators, committee clerks and key legislative aides to achieve a seamless information flow in the Senate.
This will be achieved by the installation of a robust intranet communication system and an electronic noticeboard in a dedicated portal for information management in the Senate.
1.7.2 Digitization and Archiving of Records
The current document storage situation is purely physical and space-consuming. The proposed solution is to introduce digital storage sys. which will preserve documents, file them efficiently, making access and document retrieval faster.
1.8 Inter-chamber Coordination
To promote legislative synergy, the Senate will collaborate with the House of Reps to achieve joint oversight by jointly embarking on investigative visits and hearings. The Senate will strive to eliminate the duplication of committee functions.
1.9 Strengthening External Relations 1.9.1
Presidency and Federal Government
The Senate already works with the Federal Government through its appropriation and budget oversight functions. This collaboration will be strengthened through improved dialogue btw the committees and MDAs. The Senate will make a conscious effort to ensure a smoother relationship with the Presidency, by organising periodic Senate-Presidency meetings to discuss issues of national importance
1.9.2 State Governments/Houses of Assembly
Though not a traditional partner in matters of legislation and oversight, the 9th Senate will institute a channel of engagement with State Governments through the Nigeria Governors Forum and Conference of Speakers. This is for the purpose of peer review and learning, and to engage state governments on matters requiring subnational policy implementation and concurrent or subsidiary legislation.
1.9.3 Media
The Senate will sustain the current media relations platform, and adopt a more robust and consultative approach to the management of Senate media relations.
To avoid speculative reporting and rumour- mongering, the Senate will institute a periodic (e.g. weekly) media parley to brief the Senate media corps on the position of the Senate on current issues.
1.9.4 General Public
The 9th Senate will develop a strategy to improve the public image of the Senate through periodic surveys of public opinion. There will be a conscious effort to build sustained public engagement. This could be done, for example, by increasing the community engagement component of constituency project nomination events. Further, an annual report titled, Senate Works for the People will be published. There will be a concerted effort to reach out to civil society and Non-Governmental organisations to engage them in advocacy and legislative work.
Comments
Post a Comment