By Ignatius Okorocha
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan has emphasized that the National Assembly in its bid to ensure the prudent application of public funds, will continue to oversight the Executive arm of Government, as well as provide legislative interventions to foster good governance where necessary.
Lawan, who described the nation’s legislature as the most misunderstood arm of government made the assurance while reacting to a motion on International Day of Parliamentarism, sponsored by Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP – Anambra South).
The Senate President noted that the development poses challenges which require Parliamentarians to educate and enlighten citizens on the functions and roles of the parliament.
“Here in Nigeria, like indeed anywhere else, democracy is largely defined by the presence of parliament, and parliamentarians are expected to undertake those three fundamental pillars of their mandate, that is representation, oversight and ensuring that we always legislate on good governance.
“It is important to mention and emphasize that this National Assembly will continue to undertake its oversight functions on the Executive arm of Government.
“Where we have issues, we should advice how those issues will be properly addressed because we want to see optimal performance in our government.
“Where we have to provide legislative interventions as quickly as possible, we should do so, because the purpose of any legislation is to improve on a situation.
“We should continue to do that, and in the process of oversight, we must be mindful of the fact that this is one fundamental function of the legislature that we cannot afford to take very lightly.
“We must track how expenditures are made, and the efficiency and prudence with which the projects are achieved.
“It is our responsibility as a parliament to continue to enlighten the people that we represent on what is expected of us”, Lawan said.
Earlier, Senator Ubah in his motion noted that the International Day of Parliamentarism was established on June 30, 1889 by the United Nations General Assembly, in its resolution A/RES/72/278 and aimed at recognizing the role of parliaments in national plans and strategies.
He noted that “every country in the world has some form of representative government with 79 bicameral and 114 unicameral chambers of parliaments with over 46,000 members of parliament.”
“Parliaments all over the world are needed more than ever to put in place legislations to respond to the health and economic crisis occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, protect vulnerable people and help scrutinize government’s actions and spending,” he added
