A report by OrderPaper, Nigeria’s independent parliamentary monitoring organisation, shows that over half of the bills sponsored in the 10th National Assembly were recycled from previous assemblies, especially the immediate past 9th assembly.
According to OrderPaper, data revealed that more than half of the bills sponsored in the Senate between June 2023 and May 2024 were recycled from previous assemblies, especially the immediate past 9th assembly.
It also found that nearly one-third of the bills processed in the House of Representatives within the same period were resurrected from the past.
The Founder and Executive Director of OrderPaper, Oke Epia, who disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, said the trend raises grave concerns about possible legislative ‘copy-pasting’ and further swirls speculations of merchandising of bills in the federal legislature.
Epia emphasised that the first year of the 10th National Assembly has witnessed a surge but a slow progression of sponsored bills, a significant number of which were proposals recycled from the preceding 9th assembly.
He said these were highlights of the National Assembly’s signature performance report card, which OrderPaper, Nigeria’s foremost parliamentary monitoring organisation and public policy think tank, will release this week.
The Orderpaper boss explained that the performance report card, distilled through detailed, objective and data-driven analysis of bills processed in the first year of the 10th National Assembly, revealed a significant gap between sponsorship and progression of legislative drafts.
“The analysis by OrderPaper shows that from June 2023 to May 2024, the Senate introduced a staggering 475 bills, of which only 19 have been passed while 416 remain stuck awaiting second reading.
“In like manner, out of 1,175 bills introduced in the House of Representatives in the same period under review, only 58 have been passed while a vast majority of 967 are awaiting second reading.
“Among several other datasets produced by the inimitable OrderPaper analysis, 15 senators did not sponsor a bill while 149 house members, 12.6% of the total membership, did not sponsor any bills in the period under review. Notably, 62% of these representatives in the green chamber, with no bills to their names, are first-time lawmakers.
“The performance report also highlights a troubling lack of focus on critical issues of national importance. Bills related to agriculture and food security comprise only 5.8% of the House bills and 7.3% of Senate bills. Security-related bills account for 7.2% of House and 5.4% of Senate bills.
“Despite the significant challenges faced by citizens in these sectors in recent years, bills addressing these issues remain few, with many not progressing past the first reading.
“Distinct datasets of the performance report cards will be released on the official website of OrderPaper – https://orderpaper.ng/. Constituents of the 469 members of the national assembly, political and business leaders, civil society organisations and the general public are invited to keep a tab on the website and social media pages of OrderPaper,” the statement reads in parts.
Epia also said the surge in lawmakers’ bill submissions and slow processing progress underscored a real challenge the National Assembly has been grappling with over the years: getting bills through to the legislative finish line.
He stated that while OrderPaper notes that its annual performance reports of the national assembly over the years have increased the number of bills sponsored by lawmakers, citizens have a responsibility to look beyond volume and focus more on progression, value and impact.
“Citizens must demand accountability from lawmakers by focusing not just on quantity, but on the quality and impact of their work with respect to bills processing in parliament,” he said, adding that: “OrderPaper Nigeria calls for urgent action from legislators, citizens, as well as partners of the parliament to deploy these performance report cards to push for impactful legislative governance.
“We must move from the hollow boast of sheer volume, which willy-nilly results in stalled bills, towards impactful laws that address Nigeria’s pressing challenges. The gap between promise and progress must be closed if the 10th assembly is to fulfil its potential,” Epia added.