…… To enhance good representation and quality oversight functions.
A Digital Platform to assess the performances of every lawmaker from the National Assembly has been unveiled.
Unveiling the Platform in Abuja the Speaker House of Representatives, Dr Abbas Tajudeen said the Platform would promote the nation’s democratic growth and governance.
The Platform is an initiative of a Non-governmental Organization, Erudite Growth and Advancement Foundation ERGAF-AFRICA, with a digital
tool, designed to track and evaluate the plenary legislative productivity of the 469 Nigerian federal legislators both from the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Platform also serves as a barometer for policy-focused productivity, aimed at empowering citizens with the necessary knowledge of legislatives practices and procedures to actively engage their lawmakers in legislative governance and accountability.
The Speaker House of Representatives Dr Abbas Tajudeen represented by the Chairman House Committee on Monitoring and evaluation Hart Cyril, pointed out that the Platform would provide opportunities for Nigerians to interrogate Legislative performances of their lawmakers
Dr. Abass Tajudeen said insights generated by this initiative will guide lawmakers in aligning legislative priorities with the
needs of the people, by making Legislative work more transparent
In a Keynote address, the Director General National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, represented by the Director Legal Services Dr. Shuaibu Danwanki, who described legislature as the most important aspect of any Democracy, noted that no nation can grow without functional legislature
According to the President, ERGAF-AFRICA Legislative Governance and Policy Innovation Hub, Dr. CHIBUZO OKEREKE, the Platform contained a comprehensive database of every lawmaker’s performances during plenary proceedings
“The NASS BAROMETER systematically tracks plenary legislative actions of the
legislature and legislators based on major legislative instruments including:
substantive motions, contributions to legislative debates, presentation of petitions, Point of Order; Point of privileges, procedural motions, presentation of committee reports; ministerial confirmations, establishment bills, amendment bills among other units of analysis, providing a complete panorama of plenary legislative
actions”
Other Speakers at the event in their separate contributions while calling for adequate funding for any organization committed to improving nation’s governance urged lawmakers to be accountable to the people they represent
