15 senators, 149 reps sponsored no bill in first year — Report

A performance report by OrderPaper, Nigeria’s parliamentary monitoring organisation, has revealed that 15 senators and 149 members of the House of Representatives did not sponsor any bills in the first year of the 10th National Assembly.

The report, released in Abuja by Oke Epia, Executive Director of OrderPaper, highlighted a legislative output of just 77 bills passed out of 1,442 introduced between June 2023 and May 2024.

The senators identified by the report to have sponsored no bills include Amos Yohanna (PDP, Adamawa North), Victor Umeh (LP, Anambra Central), Samaila Kaila (PDP, Bauchi North), Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central), Ani Okorie (APC, Ebonyi South), Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North), Neda Imasuen (LP, Edo South), and Kelvin Chizoba (LP, Enugu East).

Others are Muntari Dandutse (APC, Katsina South), Jiya Ndalikali (PDP, Niger South), Onyesoh Allwell (PDP, Rivers East), Haruna Manu (PDP, Taraba Central), Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe North), Napoleon Bali (PDP, Plateau South), and Abubakar Yari (APC, Zamfara Central).

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Findings by Daily Trust in an earlier report had uncovered that four of the 13 former governors in the Senate and 21 other senators did not sponsor any bills from June 2023 to March 2024.

Epia further revealed that the report also pointed out a trend of recycled legislation, with over half of the Senate bills and nearly one-third of House bills being reintroduced from previous assemblies. This recycling raises concerns about legislative originality and commitment to addressing Nigeria’s current challenges, the report noted.

The Senate saw 475 bills introduced, with only 19 passed, while the House introduced 1,175 bills, passing just 58. A significant number of these bills remain pending at the second reading stage. The report emphasized a disparity between bill sponsorship and their progression, indicating a gap in legislative efficiency.

Epia noted the slow progression of bills as a long-standing issue within the National Assembly, calling for a focus on the quality and impact of bills rather than mere quantity.