The 10th House of Representatives, on Monday, vowed to make citizens’ needs a priority in all its legislative actions.
The Speaker, Dr Tajudeen Abbas, assured Nigerians of this determination as the 10th Assembly rolled out its six-points Legislative agenda in Abuja.
Speaking at a stakeholders meeting on the 10th House of Representatives legislative agenda, Dr Abbas noted that it was through adequate engagements with Citizens that legislators would become the true representatives of the people.
The Speaker, while explaining that the meeting was part of the House desire to have a legislative agenda that listens to the citizens, said that the agenda would be used as a benchmark to assess performance of the house after four years.
“The House will pay attention to participatory budgeting process and delivery, policy reforms, electoral reforms, women’s participation and inclusion in governance, improved socio-economic conditions.
”Entrepreneurship, employment, health care, education, infrastructure development, citizens-focused diplomacy, institutional capacity and citizens engagement, constitutional amendment and restructuring”
Abbas tasked stakeholders present at the meeting to be willing to suggest ideas that would make the Open NASS project of the 10th House more responsive to the people.
House Leader and Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee on Legislative Agenda, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, announced the legislative agenda.
He listed them to include “Economic Empowerment and Diversification, Infrastructure Development, Education and Human Capital Development, Healthcare for all; Transparent Governance, Accountability, and Security and Safety of Persons and Properties and Economic Empowerment and Diversification.”
Ihonvbere said that “the agenda, being the vision of the 10th Assembly, would be the fulcrum upon which the 10th legislative’s operation would be based.”
He noted that one of the House’s foremost goals would be to drive economic empowerment and diversification to curb Nigeria’s over-reliance on oil exports, which had left the economy vulnerable to fluctuations in global oil prices.
“In the agriculture sector, we will pass legislation to modernise farming practices, improve access to credit for farmers, and support agricultural research and development,” Ihonvbere said.
He noted that the Green Chamber would explore opportunities in agro-processing to add value to the country’s agricultural produce and create more jobs.
“In the technology and innovation space, we will foster an environment that encourages start-ups, nurtures innovation hubs, and incentivises research and development,” the lawmaker said.
The House Leader said that the aim was to position Nigeria as a technology powerhouse, leveraging her young and dynamic population to drive innovation and digital transformation.
He stressed that the agenda was to prioritise renewable energy projects to reduce the country’s carbon footprint, improve energy security, and create jobs in the renewable energy sector.
“Our overall goals are job creation, higher foreign exchange earnings, new skills development, diversification of exports, and strengthening and deepening our technological foundations,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director Policy, Legal and Advocacy Center (PLAC), Dr Clement Nwankwo, urged the National Assembly to focus more on pursuing the implementation of the legislative agenda.
Dr Nwankwo, who spoke during the meeting on the 10th House of Representatives legislative agenda in Abuja, emphasized that the recommendation made by the election observation group be adopted to ensure that all election lapses were addressed to forestall future occurrence.
In his presentation, Nwankwo pointed out that citizens were going through hard times to face the realities of the subsidy removal, insecurity, and other challenges, hence the need to perioritise citizens’ needs.
“It is imperative for the 10th Assembly to understand that when formulating it’s legislative agenda it must bring about disciplined expenditure by all arms of government to ensure accountability and responsiveness which is a major citizen’s concern”
He stated that the legislature had a role to play in ensuring that the means of livelihoods in Nigeria did not force unintended consequences on the Masses.
”Executive legislative engagement is very key at this time, National security is equally essential as it has great impact in food production so there is need to hold service chiefs accountable to provide security for the citizens ” he stressed
Dr Nwankwo also decried low women representation at the 10th Assembly.
“This is totally unacceptable. We expected that cognisant step be taken to ensure more women inclusion in decision making process,” he declared.
Participants at the meeting included CSOs, members of the diplomatic community and politicians.
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