The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has inaugurated the House Monitoring and Evaluation Committee to ensure effectiveness in the operations of the House.
Performing the ceremony on Wednesday in Abuja, Abbas stated the house would no longer tolerate unprofessional conducts by its members.
“With the establishment of this Committee, let me declare that the era of conducting oversights, public hearings and investigative hearings without reports for action is over.
“The House will no longer tolerate unprofessional conducts from Committees who fail to discharge their responsibilities. It is your duty as a committee to drive this process. I charge you to police our committees and make them function effectively and efficiently,” he said.
The Speaker said that the success or failure of the 10th House of Representatives largely rested on the shoulders of the committee.
He said that the establishment of the committee was a significant step toward enhancing accountability, and efficiency of legislative processes through our various committees.
The lawmaker said that the committee’s mandate was to oversee, assess, and enhance the work of all the various committees of the house.
“You are to ensure that committees turn in their reports regularly as required, prompt relevant committees to take actions on assigned tasks, and assess the performance of each committee and make recommendations to the leadership of the House.
“Your report which is expected quarterly according to our Standing Orders, will be taken very seriously as it will guide the House to take necessary steps in the management of our committees,” he said.
Mr Abbas said that committees would play a very role in the functioning of the House as they were responsible for conducting most of the legislative activities and businesses.
He said that their efficiency and effectiveness would significantly impact the overall performance of a legislature, which in turn affect its ability to meet the obligations it had toward the people.
Speaker Abbas said that to guarantee that the committees functioned optimally, it was essential not only to provide them with adequate funding, appoint the right individuals to the committees, but very importantly, constantly monitor and evaluate their performance.
He said that the aim was to ensure that they adhered to the required ethics, stay within the confines of their mandates, and ultimately deliver on the overall mandate of the people.
He said that al-through meticulous evaluation, areas of improvement could be identity, exemplary work commended and also address challenges that may arose during the course of their duties.
Abbas said while monitoring one’s peers may be challenging, he had no doubt in the ability and dedication of members of the committee to accomplish this task.
Resounding, the Chairman of the committee, Obinna Aguocha (LP-Abia) pledged to carry out the mission of effectively.
He said that from a monitoring and evaluation standpoint, the committee would enforce compliance by ensuring that standing and ad hoc committees abided by the vision, mission and objectives of the House.
The chairman pledged to ensure all committees complied with the terms of reference and legislative priorities.
“We are saddled with enormous tasks; I strongly believe that we are equal to the task; I urge you honourable colleagues to join me in this endeavour as we seek the goodwill and cooperation of all.
“I will operate always an open-door policy for your suggestions and input aimed at moving our work and committee forward. It is my expectation that all of us will bring our expertise to bear to this onerous task of nation building.
“Be fully assured that we would liaise effectively with the Leadership of the House, Chairmen and Deputies, and secretariats of all the standing and ad hoc committees of the House with the aim to achieving seamless working relationship towards our set goals and objectives,” he said.
NAN
