The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, on Monday urged Nigerians to hold their lawmakers accountable for their activities while in office.
He said the development should be done through repeated monitoring and questioning of their actions.
Bankole stated this at an interaction forum between the lawmakers and the Civil Society Groups, organised by ActionAid Nigeria and the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs in Abuja.
He added that the country was at a crossroad of rediscovering itself after years of unnecessary fratricidal civil war, 33 years of military rule and the lack of trust between the governed and those in authority.
But he said if the lawmakers failed in their duties to the nation, the civil society and every Nigerian should be ready to share the blame because they also failed to hold their representatives accountable for their actions.
He said, “Here lies the new challenge of the civil society, but unfortunately it is not fully taken up probably as a result of the fact that most of these organisations were conceptualised as opponents of military rule.
“However, eight years of democracy is enough time to redirect your focus towards developing the capacity of Nigerians in participatory democracy.
“We need to build the capacity of Nigerians to dialogue with government, question the activities of their representatives, participate in the law making process and the development of government policies, and at the end hold public officials accountable for their actions.
“We need this partnership to actualise the mandate of restoration and hope that Nigerians have entrusted in our custody.
The challenge is daunting, especially as we lack one of the most basic tools of any political endeavour- experience of good governance.”
The Chairman, House Committee on Media, Mr Ezeuchi Ubani had in his welcome address said the House needed a structural engagement with the civil society, despite its vibrancy.
He said both groups need to share information and resources on good governance to the benefit of the people.
According to Ubani, since the CSOs help fill a void between the government and the people, the House sees their contribution in areas of taxation, gender equity, environment, accountability, press freedom, public procurement, amongst others as very valuable.
He said, “The range of issues that will dominate our legislative agenda in the next three years are such that require the inputs of the Nigerian people, such include electoral reforms, prison reforms simplification of public procurement process, constitutional amendment, public health system reforms among others.”
Ubani added that the old form of governance, which emphasised power over development had failed, stressing that a new approach which required partnership with the civil societies was imperative.
By Chiawo Nwankwo and Victor Sam, Abuja
The Punch
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
