Why Most Nigerian Lawmakers Routinely Underperform By Anemuyem Akpan Esq

In its classical sense, the legislative arm of government is the
only platform citizens can have a say in how they are governed.
Legislators, representing the people, are principally empowered to
make laws and act as checks on the executive.

The 1999 Nigerian Constitution partitions the legislative arm
into the National Assembly, comprising the Senate and the House of
Representatives and the State Houses of Assembly. Their principal
duty as captured by Section 4(2) and (7) of the Constitution are to
make laws for the peace, order and good government of the
people.

Despite the constitutional safeguard of independence, aimed at
securing their competence, a good number of Nigerian lawmakers
continue to put up abysmal performance in the discharge of their
duties. Since 1999, we have collectively elected thousands of
lawmakers, whose performance at best can be classed as below
average and at worst, zero.  From ill-researched Bills that
don’t even make it to committee stage to not even sponsoring one;
these lawmakers blaze the trail as one of the factors contributing
to our national stagnation.

While natural impulse compels us to lay the blame squarely on
our lawmakers, a closer observation reveals a complex web of
competing factors in play. These factors, have been at the root of
abdication of legislative responsibilities in Nigeria since 1999.
They include:

• Incessant demand for monetary assistance by
  constituents.

Overtime, constituents have developed the culture of besieging
their lawmakers for financial assistance. This trend takes a
repulsive dimension when lawmakers are rated, not on the strength
of their legislative performance, but on their ability to dole out
money. Faces with insatiable constituents, our lawmakers forgo
their primary functions, focusing more on whetting the financial
appetite of their constituents.

Some lawmakers go extreme by fleeing their legislative and
constituency offices, thereby shutting the door to those with
legitimate legislative businesses.  There is this legal
principle that says, you cannot put something on nothing and expect
it to stand (nemo dat quod non habet). We cannot continue
to demand money from lawmakers and at the same time, expect them to
discharge their principal duty of lawmaking effectively.

• Recruitment of unqualified legislative staff and
  assistants.

Lawmaking process is a highly technical aspect of government
that thrives entirely on professionalism. There are no rooms for
second guesses. A wrong punctuation in a law can throw up chaos
that ends up defeating the purpose of that law. The margin for
error in legislative business is best eliminated with the
recruitment of legislative experts. This holds true, especially for
first time lawmakers.

In defiance of world best practices in lawmaking, Nigerian
lawmakers prefer to populate their staff with family members and
political loyalists. With no background in legislative business,
these aides at best dish out ill-researched and poorly drafted
legislative documents. Others don’t even bother their head. They
simply copy laws from other jurisdictions without thought to
prevailing conditions in such jurisdictions and its applicability
to ours.

• Disconnection from constituency

Encouraged by our general indifference towards politics, most of
our lawmakers disengage from us immediately after elections.
Enticed by their new status and its metropolitan trappings, these
lawmakers break off communication with their constituencies. Their
official visiting hours are shortened, if honoured at all. With the
speed of light, they breeze in and out of legislative Chambers,
leaving visiting constituents to the tyranny of bad-tempered
assistants.

This state of disconnection predictably comes to an abrupt end
once another election cycle is around the corner. Hitherto deserted
constituency offices are given facelifts and their doors thrown
open for visiting constituents and political jobbers alike.

• Weak accountability mechanisms

Frustrated with an unresponsive and corrupt system, constituents
deliberately shy away from holding their representatives to
account.  Most constituents have never heard from nor seen
their representatives and many may never do so. It is rare for a
constituency in Nigeria to formally invite their representative to
a town hall meeting for briefings. Even if such an invitation is
sent out, it will take an extraordinary miracle for it to receive
positive response from a lawmaker.

It is within the constitutional right of constituents to demand
accountability from their representatives. It is also within their
right according to Section 69 and 110 of the  Constitution to
remove any nonperforming lawmaker through the mechanism of
recall.

Regrettably, this constitutional device is rarely set in motion
despite mounting evidence of incompetence by some of our lawmakers.
At best, it is used to persecute lawmakers who have fallen out of
favour with their State governors like the case of Senator Dino
Melaye.

• Overbearing executive and political
  parties

Theoretically, the doctrine of separation of powers finds
unambiguous expression and protection in our Constitution.
Practically speaking, it remains thoroughly emasculated and
rendered non-existent in certain quarters. The executive arm
continues to wax in strength at the expense of a shrinking
legislative arm. With the demand of unconditional fealty, the
executive arm repeatedly fetters legislative power and
initiative.  Lawmakers who are bold enough to protest this
encroachment are whipped into line with executive-orchestrated
impeachments, suspension, isolation or denial of re-election
tickets.

Of recent, particularly in the Buhari era, political parties
have joined the league of factors eroding legislative independence
and competence. Lawmakers now march into their chambers, armed with
instructions from their Party leadership on how they should
vote.  Refusal to toe party line is considered an anti party
activity in Nigeria; one charge that has ended the shining career
of many bright politicians.

* This article is by no means a general assessment
of all lawmakers in Nigeria. There continue to exist, lawmakers
with the passion to serve and who are doing so magnificently.
However, it can be argued that their number is fast
dwindling.

Anemuyem Akpan is a lawyer and legislative consultant. He
previously worked as legislative draftsman to Hon. Sam Ogeh,
Member, Emuoha State Constituency in the Rivers State House State
of Assembly.  He is Managing Partner, Anem Alex &
Associates.

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