The Ninth House of Representatives which was inaugurated on Tuesday, June 9, 2019 held its valedictory session last Wednesday, ending its four-year tenure, with former Speakers of the House, Ghali Na’Abba (1999-2003) and Patricia Etteh (2007) in attendance.
As the session commenced, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila admitted into the Chambers, former Presiding Officers, former Principal Officers and former Clerks of the House of Representatives and acknowledged their significant contributions to the National Assembly.
The former presiding officers were ushered into the chamber, following a motion moved by the leader of the House, Hon. Alhassan Doguwa (APC, Kano).
In her remark, Etteh said, “First and foremost, I have always been praying that God should give us a president of this nature, someone who has passed through the legislative arm of government. Who says God is not answering prayers? God answered my prayers and the prayers of others by giving us somebody who has really passed through this National Assembly. I asked for one, but God gave us three because he knows we have been yearning for it.
“We want somebody that really appreciates Nigerians. There is no one that will pass through the National Assembly or any legislative arm of government that would not appreciate Nigerians because we are the people that listen to the yearnings of this nation.”
The occasion provided the lawmakers the opportunity to award pass marks to the Ninth House of Representatives. Starting from the Speaker, the lawmakers took turns to heap praises on the House.
Declaring his valedictory speech, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila expressed his gratitude to his constituents and other members of the House for their support to him during his tenure as Speaker. He attributed his success to their courage, determination and commitment to nation-building.
Gbajabiamila said the Ninth House of Reps worked assiduously to ensure that Nigeria achieved economic, social, and political transformations that benefitted the citizens by introducing legislations that addressed numerous challenges within various sectors.
He cited the implementation of the January to December budget cycle that ended the policy of instability and economic uncertainty created by irregular budgeting practices as one of the major achievements of the Ninth House.
Other notable legislations by the Ninth House, he added, was the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2022 and the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act, 2019, which were aimed at optimising the functions of the oil and gas sector.
Speaking on reforms within the security sector, Gbajabiamila mentioned the passage of the Police Act, which established the Police Complaints Units as a statutory organ accessible to the public for reporting cases of police misconduct.
He noted that the House passed the Police Act to change the nature of the relationship between the police and other citizens and to ensure that police officers who fell short of their responsibilities could be quickly held accountable.
The outgoing Speaker said the Ninth House worked with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to establish a new framework of accountability to hold erring members of the Police Force to account for their conduct; appropriated the sum of N500 million through the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to compensate victims of police brutality nationwide; and convened a National Security Summit to examine Nigeria’s national security and defence infrastructure.
Gbajabiamila said that though the strategic importance of the oil and gas sector to Nigeria’s socio-economic wellbeing had long been apparent, successive administrations failed to put in place a functional statutory regime to allow the sector to function optimally.
He said the Ninth House ended that “legacy of lethargy” with the passage of the Petroleum Industrial Act (PIA) and the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act, which further put the sector on the right footing.
He stated, “Our legacy also includes the comprehensive electoral reforms in the Electoral Act that have changed forever for good the way we conduct elections in Nigeria. While we recognise the need to continue to work to improve election management in Nigeria, we must acknowledge the vast improvement that has taken place since the return to democracy. And we take pride in our contribution to these improvements over the last four years.
“Through the constitutional review process, the House of Representatives sought to restructure our government to make it more effective, reorganise our politics to make it more inclusive, enshrine efficient mechanisms for holding the institutions of state to account and put an end to the debilitating conflicts that even now continue to tear our nation apart.
“Our interventions on behalf of Nigerians in China during the pandemic put an end to recurrent incidents of abuse, just as our efforts on behalf of Nigerians in South Africa and Ghana caused the governments of those nations to step up action to protect the lives and property of our citizens in those countries.
“From Ghana to South Africa, from China to the United States of America, we made it clear that this parliament will defend the rights of our citizens to conduct their legitimate businesses without fear of molestation and that the wellbeing of Nigerians remains our business, whether home or abroad.”
Gbajabiamila, however, said he regretted that the Ninth House did not succeed in removing some of the constitutional barriers that had long stood in the way of women’s full and unhindered participation in the politics, governance and economy of the country. He urged the 10th House to take up the mantle and do better.
He noted that the Ninth House, with unwavering courage and determination, defended the rights and dignity of Nigerians from every attempt to dehumanise and victimise them.
He lamented that too many young Nigerians had lost faith in the country and were leaving in droves in search of better prospects and a brighter future in other lands. He added that the country was losing some of its best and brightest, and if leaders did not act now, the consequences of this loss would shortly become painfully evident.
The outgoing Speaker acknowledged the efforts made by the House of Representatives, in response to the challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, to protect the lives of Nigerians, including the passage of the Emergency Economic Stimulus Bill, 2020; the passage of the Emergency Relief and Assistance Bill, 2020; the establishment of a health facility in the FCT under the management of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the consideration of the Infectious Disease Bill, 2020.
He commended the efforts of members towards the passage of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020, the Nigeria Start-Up Act, 2022, the Electoral Act, 2022 and 35 Constitution Alteration Bills out of which 16 were assented by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He expressed his appreciation to stakeholders, specifically the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), the NBA and Korand Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) for their immense contribution and support. He described these stakeholders as “worthy partners in progress”.
Gbajabiamila further expressed the optimism that the House of Representatives and the Senate would continue to work towards peace, prosperity, equity, and justice, irrespective of tribe and tongue, religion and creed.
Also speaking, the Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Hon. Abubakar Fulata, acknowledged the achievements of the House.
Fulata said that the Ninth House passed a total of 510 bills and 2,000 motions in the last four years.
Fulata said the Ninth House was the most productive of all assemblies in the history of the National Assembly, having processed 2,232 bills, out of which 52 were from the executive, 163 from the senate, and 2,017 were members bills.
He said “Out of these figures still, bills awaiting second reading are 1,197. Bills referred to committees, 581. Bills reported by the committees 275. Bills pending in the committee 308. Bills within the Committee of the Whole, 106. Bills laid on table awaiting consideration, 64. Bills far passed 510.
“Bills killed (negative) 13, and bills withdrawn by their sponsors, five. The House also passed 2,000 motions in total. Mr. Speaker, all these could not have been achieved without your able leadership and that of your Deputy, Ahmed Idris Wase, who is also Chairman, Committee of the Whole.”
Chairman, Committee on Finance, Hon. James Faleke, said, “We were able to pass so many amendments to our laws. So many Finance Acts that have seen the increase in our revenue from N5.2 trillion in 2019 to about N10.1 trillion in 2022.”
Outgoing chairman of the House Committee on Tertiary Education, Hon. Aminu Suleiman, said Gbajabiamila saved the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) from proscription during the union’s nine-month strike action.
Hon. Julius Ihonvbere while contributing said, “Mr. Speaker, in your new role, your challenges will be more than what you face here because those pains, those broken dreams that you spoke about are still there. In many cases they are worse. So, we plead with you not to abandon the spirit of vision, commitment, of believing that a country requires the kind of leaders that will have that ability to have a sense of nation and vision.”
Chairman, Committee on Judiciary, Hon. Onofiok Luke, made a case for salary increase for judicial officers.
Luke said, “Mr. Speaker, you gave me a responsibility as Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary. Mr. Speaker, in your new role, we have not been able to reach the El Dorado.
“The judicial officers of this country are still wallowing in their poor working and living conditions. Mr. Speaker, the last salary review for the judicial officers in this country was about 14 years ago and every effort to increase their salaries ended in futility. So, I want to urge you, Sir, to take up the issue of judiciary.”
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
