The Rt. Honourable Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly and Chairman, Conference of Speakers of state legislatures of Nigeria, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin has enumerated the milestone of the Conference of Speakers of the State Legislatives through the State Houses of Assembly. Hon Adebo gave this hints at a one day reflection session put together by Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn ( PERL) and Engaged Citizen Pillar(ECP) held yesterday at Abuja Continental hotel, Abuja.
Speaker Adebo who scored the point in his speech titled “The legislative reform at the state level: the Journey so far said;
“The Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria has been at the forefront of this effort, and I am proud to say that our collaboration with Partnership to Engage, Reform, and Learn (PERL) and others has been instrumental in driving this progress.
“Through our joint efforts, we have successfully advocated for and implemented several key reforms, including :
– Passage of Funds Management Bills/Laws in several states which have ensured transparent and accountable management of public funds, reducing corruption and misappropriation.
– State Legislative Service Commissions which provided independent and professional support to State Legislatures, enhancing their capacity to conduct effective oversight and representation.
– State Legislative Finance Guidelines which helped standardising financial management practices in State Legislatures, promoting transparency and accountability.
– Legislative Financial and Administrative Autonomy which is to ensure State Legislatures operate independently and effectively, free from executive interference
– Capacity Development Programs put together to enhance the skills and knowledge of State Legislators and legislative staff, improving their ability to serve constituents and conduct effective oversight.
– Robust engagements on Constitution Review Exercises : These engagements have ensured grassroots input and representation in the constitution review process, promoting inclusivity and citizen participation.
– Strengthening Legislative Oversight : This reform aims to enhance the ability of State Legislatures to conduct effective oversight of the executive arm, promoting accountability and transparency.
– Enhancing Citizen Engagement Platforms where citizens engage with State Legislatures, promoting participatory democracy and inclusive representation.
Adebo added that these reforms have significantly improved the capacity and effectiveness of State Legislatures across the country, ensuring seamless legislative processes and enabling State Assemblies to better serve the needs of their constituents and by extension the people.
He noted that irrespective of the achievement recorded, more still need to be done.
He added”However, our work is far from over. As we move forward, we must continue to prioritize reforms that promote transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement. We must also address emerging challenges and opportunities, such as the impact of technology on the legislative process”.
While warmly welcoming participants to the reflection session, he said the session session is meant to evaluate and review, assess and analyse as well as enhance and foster more collaborations for sustained positive impacts and results.
He therefore acknowledged and commended the strategic partners for their remarkable programs and activities which he said has improved legislative processes and ultimately promoted good governance in our dear nation -Nigeria especially at the state level.
“As we gather here today to reflect on our journey so far, I am reminded of the significant progress we have made in championing legislative reforms at the state level.
“In this regard, I propose that we consider the following areas for further reforms : Strengthening Legislative Oversights, Enhancing Citizen Engagement and participation and Promoting Legislative Research and Analysis
“We would also like to leverage on the expertise and resources of PERL and other partners to ensure our State Assemblies embrace E-parliament to make legislative processes more open and accessible to citizens, streamline legislative operations, reduce time and resources wasted on manual operations, provide access to data, research and analysis to inform legislative decisions, facilitate communication and collaboration amongst legislators, committees and stakeholders and other laudable benefits”.
In the same vein , the Director General, Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, Busari Sarafadeen in good will message highlighted the effort of Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn ( PERL) in birthing many legislative reforms at the state level directed at entrenching democracy in Nigeria.
Busari said”I like to use this opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate the great work by the PERL in Nigeria. Many legislative reforms at the state level have been made possible courtesy of PERL’s passionate efforts directed at entrenching democracy in Nigeria. Consequently, together we have achieved a lot”.
“Prominent among these achievements is the granting of financial autonomy to the state legislatures through the 4th and 5th alteration exercises of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Your engagements and collaboration between governments and citizens to tackle governance challenges and improve service delivery in our country is commendable.
“We believe that, with a shared aspiration to reflect on engagements with strategic partners over time to celebrate successes and examining lessons learnt; this technical session is apt and no doubt, it will attain its objective of charting a new way for future plans. This is an essential ingredient and good practice for a sustainable development in any democratic nation”
Busari also called for imperative of a successor program to build on the successes recorded in the country and to sustain better service delivery at the sub-national level in particular.
“Having said that, we find it difficult to come to terms with the reality that PERL Programme is closing.
“The landmark achievements recorded by PERL through its engagements with relevant bodies in Nigeria such as Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria and Forum of Clerks of State Legislatures, a successor program is imperative to build on the successes recorded in the country at large and to sustain better service delivery at the sub-national level in particular.”
The event was a melting point as it provided platform for sharing of ideas, experiences and expertise across all stratas from the diplomats, CSOs/NGOs, academia, etc.
