Prof. Abubakar Suleiman, the Director-General, National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), has expressed worry over the high rate of legislators turnover in the country.
Sulaiman said this at the 2022 House of Representatives Press Corps Week in Abuja on Monday.
He said such turnover remained a major challenge threatening the institutionalisation of legislature in the country.
According to him, the continuous replacement of a significant members of the legislature after each election cycle has serious implications on the ability of legislature to perform its role effectively.
“This trend in legislative attrition is expected to be worse in the 10th Assembly because of the trend already shown during the primary election,” he said.
He said more than 70 per cent of the legislators failed to secure return tickets at their party primaries in 2022.
He said that even the 30 per cent that secured party returned tickets may not make it at the 2023 general election, which he said further compounded the already worse situation.
Suleiman said scholars were already predicting that the 10th Assembly might witness the highest rate of turnover since the beginning of the current democratic dispensation in 1999.
He attributed the trend to the nature of Nigeria’s elective offices as well as the election process itself.
The D-G however, called for the amendment of the Constitution to raise the minimum educational requirement for membership of parliament in Nigeria.
He said with higher qualification, the capacity of legislators to master the legislative practice and procedures and contribute to robust debates in parliament would be very high.
Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, represented by the Deputy Minority Leader, Rep. Peter Akpatason, said the media had a greater role to play in correcting the misconception of the people in the legislature.
Also speaking, Rep. Benjamin Kalu, the Spokesperson for the House, said there was need for the media to stand on issue based campaigns as the election approached.
He said many Nigerians had no knowledge of the 2022 Electoral Amendment law in respect of the conduct of the election, adding that there was need for them to be acquainted with the law.
The Chairperson of the House Press Corps, Madam Grace Ike, said the event was organised to honor individuals who contributed their quota in promoting the legislative system in Nigeria.
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