BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has said the House is focused on using its oversight functions on the executive as a cooperative tool to engender development and better the lives of Nigerians, rather than as an adversary tool.
Dogara, who delivered a keynote address at the two-day summit on Intergovernmental/Party Relations and the Budget Reform Process for sustainable development in Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday, said over the years, legislative oversight has been considered more adversarial than cooperative.
He explained that in conducting oversight, the principles of co-operative government and inter-governmental relations must be taken into consideration, including the separation of powers and the need for all spheres of government and all organs of State to exercise their powers and perform their functions in a manner that does not encroach on the functions of other arms.
The Speaker further said; “Seen in this light, the oversight function of the legislature complements rather than hampers the effective delivery of services with which the executive is entrusted.”
Dogara therefore, called for a more cooperative government where the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, in their collective struggle to develop Nigeria and ensure better life for her citizens, will always adhere to a common loyalty to the Federal Republic of Nigeria by committing to securing the well-being of all the Nigerians and provide effective, transparent, accountable and coherent government for the country as a whole.
He said the outcomes and recommendations of oversight undertaken by the legislature should be eagerly received, studied and implemented by the executive as a measure of accountability, citing an instance where the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua requested for the report of the probe carried out by the House Adhoc Committee on Customs and Excise in the 6th Assembly under his leadership and started implementing the recommendations even before the report was adopted.
According to him; “I can give personal testimony that as chairman, House Ad-Hoc Committee on Customs, the report of the House investigation we conducted was requested for by him personally and he started to implement the recommendations.”
Going further, Dogara said for intergovernmental cooperation to function effectively with a view to yield the desired outcomes, the distinctiveness of each arm must be safeguarded in that its constitutional status, institutions, powers and functions of each arm must be respected; each arm of government must remain within its constitutional powers; and when exercising those powers, it must not do so in a manner that encroaches on the institutional integrity of another.
He further said; “This means that checks and balances should be in place with mutual respect for the authority and powers of the other arms so as to achieve better cooperation.
“Each arm of government must take concrete steps to realize cooperative government by fostering friendly relations, assisting and supporting one another, informing one another of, and consulting one another on, matters of common interest, co-ordinating their actions and legislation with one another; and adhering to agreed procedures.
“The various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) are constitutionally required to account to the legislature, and they should always avail parliament of the complete picture on performance of the functions assigned to them as the consideration of the annual report of the MDAs alone may not give the complete picture of the performance of the relevant functions.”
