Soon after his appointment and confirmation by the National Assembly Service Commission NASC, the Clerk to the National Assembly CNA , Sani Magaji Tambuwal in March , 2023, the new clerk was saddled with the management of the Assembly which comprises of the immediate staff, the federal lawmakers, legislative aides among many others.
Challenged by the multiple issues desiring attention and coinciding with his large resume and wealth of experience, he quickly settled down and began tackling myriads of the issues headlong.
The appointment which came at a time when the two chambers of the Assembly was undergoing renovation, with the digital library also under construction expanding the scope of coverage of the new CNA beyond human management to other areas of supervision.
Alas, the CNA as a routine was also inundated with the sustenance of the existing order through training and retraining of staff to keep them abreast with the modest and modern order inline with the prevailing situations.
This is coming also at a time when the 9th National Assembly was on its last lap towards the preparation for the last 2023 general elections in which the federal lawmakers were expected to renew their mandates.
The general elections in 2023 was contested and won by many party’s which included the two major ones that was increased to four major party’s occupying the National Assembly with other smaller party’s .
Aside the verdict of the 2023 elections that emerged with four major political party’s of APC , PDP , NNPP and Labour Party, over 60% of the lawmakers from the House of Representatives to the Senate were new members as only 40% returned, hence the new 10th Assembly was confronted with frequent and intermittent need for capacity building to refresh and inculcate the workings of the National Assembly in the new members as well as the returning ones.
Confronted with the new development and determined to tackle it , the National Assembly Management under the leadership of Sani Magaji Tambuwal as the Clerk to the National Assembly CNA swung into action by expanding the inauguration program of federal lawmakers along with capacity building workshop that lasted for weeks, to inject into both the new and old members the intricacies and workings of the National Assemblyl before the assumption of duty in June, 2023.
This was carried out along with series of sideline activities and schedules of capacity building workshops to be implemented both locally and internationally to keep them abreast with the demands of the Assembly on plenary, committees, sub committees, oversights among many other demands of the legislative arm of government.
The demands for continuous and intermittent capacity building was also extended to the legislative aides of the new lawmakers with most of them new, inexperienced and expected to drive the activities of the new and returning lawmakers in the area of plenary attendance, committees and sub committees assignments, oversights along with other activities of the legislative arm of government.
The CNA also expanded the scope of training and retraining of the staff of the National Assembly who were also expected to be interfacing with the federal lawmakers in the area of budget proposals, budget implementation and also interacting with the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government including the private sector and voluntary agencies.
The positive development had begin to yield results with the 10th Assembly of both lower and upper chamber of the National Assembly looking robust and also the timely passage of the supplementary budget for 2023 and 2024 budget to sustain the January to December circle already achieved by the 9th Assembly.
Successful screening and confirmation of appointments ranging from Ministers, Board members and chairmen of agencies of government was an indicator of feedback from the numerous capacity building and workshops organised by the National Assembly Management under the leadership of The Clerk to the National Assembly, Sani Magaji Tambuwal.
With the positive development, no doubt 11 months down the line , the current 10th Assembly will be expected to surpass other previous ones with the unique leadership been displayed by Sani Magaji Tambuwal as the Clerk to the National Assembly.
* YUSUF writes from Abuja,he can be reached via: [email protected].
