Frequent change of lawmakers and future of democracy
By Muhammad A. Isa
Legislature in every democracy world over is one of the tripod on which the three arms of government are rested. It is acknowledged that, the legislative arm of government is the main feature of any democratic government, as the other arms, Executive and judiciary can be found in any other forms of government.
The importance of legislature cannot be over-emphasised, as it is the only arm that is charged with the responsibility of making laws for the nation. It also ensures transparency and accountability in public spending and checks the excesses of the executive through the oversight functions on ministries and parastatal agencies.
Because of their critical role in strengthening democracy, members of the parliament have no tenure limit, unlike what obtains in the Executive arm, where the Head of government serves for a limited term as provided by the constitution. This is to ensure that parliamentarians acquire the necessary legislative experience through training and re-training on the rudiments of their parliamentary job. Thus, it is not surprising to see lawmakers who have spent decades in the parliaments of some advanced democracies, including the United States of America, Britain and India.
This arrangement ensures that lawmakers continue to retain their seats after a every election, so as not to drag parliamentary activities backwards by the coming on stage of new members who need time to master the art of legislation. Although the 1999 Nigerian constitution, like in other world democracies, allows legislators to seek re-election as many times as possible, the situation is such that in every election majority of the lawmakers are being replaced with new members.
For example, only about 30 per cent of members of the House of Representatives were able to return to the House after the 2003 general elections. Investigation by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) showed that about 90 per cent of the members of the House indicated their interest to return to the House for the 2007 to 2011 legislative session.
As Nigerians are about to go to the polls again,the 2003 scenario is about to repeat itself as far as the re-election of members of the House of Representatives is concerned. This became evident against the backdrop of the results of the primary elections of the different political parties, where many incumbent lawmakers failed to clinch the tickets of their parties.
A closer look at outcome of the PDP primaries for the House of Representatives explains the scenario. The ruling party currently has 247 in the House. Out of 360 members in the House, not more than 60 of them were able to secure their party tickets for re-election. Also, only a negligible number of ANPP lawmakers scaled through their party primaries, while majority of AD members have defected to the new AC party where they have no guarantee of a return ticket. Mainly, the zoning arrangement adopted by political parties, wrong perception of the legislature by the public and a lack of positive legislative impact on the lives of the citizenry are said to have caused the situation.
Secondly, in Nigerian political context, lawmakers have been wrongly perceived by the electorate to have power to award contracts and dispense patronage. Therefore, any member who was not ready to live up to that perception is bound to lose re-election. Commenting on the trend at a forum, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Masari lamented the effects of constant change of lawmakers on the nation's democracy.
``Due to these frequent changes the nation's democracy will continue to witness a slow development, because each set of new lawmakers needed time to master the art of parliament''.
Masari said, ``apart from being a hindrance to the rapid growth of democracy, the situation also caused the nation huge losses in terms of funds used for the training of each set of new lawmakers, as many members need to be financed to go abroad for legisla ive training.
He explained: ``A new member of the House will need at least two years before he settles down, learn the parliamentary procedures and acquire the necessary skills to perform his job as expected.
``Therefore the country will only benefit from his service for only two years before he is replaced and the new person brought in to go through the whole process again''.
On the whole, for our democracy to grow, there is a need to ensure experienced legislature as obtained in advanced democracies that will be responsive and responsible to the aspirations of the electorate. To achieve that, there should be massive enlightenment campaign by the political parties, media and the National Assembly itself to make the citizens know and appreciate the functions of the legislature in a democratic set up. On their own part, the lawmakers should strive to discharge their duties diligently to earn the confidence of Nigerians and avoid flamboyant lifestyles that make, not a few of the electorate to regard them as looters of the nation's wealth.
(NAN Feature)