The 9th House of Representatives Wednesday wound down, passing 510 bills and 2,000 motions in four years.
The Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Abubakar Hassan Fulata (APC, Jigawa), at the valedictory session, said that out of the 2,232 bills considered during the life of the house; 2,017 were members’ bills; 58 executive bills, while 107 were from the senate.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and other members who spoke, rated the performance of the 9th house very high.
Gbajabiamila said, “We elevated the debates in the House of Representatives and made this chamber the arena for informed exchanges about Nigeria’s future and the welfare of all our nation’s people. We have left our mark in every sector of our national life and positively impacted people’s lives across our country.
“We introduced discipline into the appropriations process by implementing a January to December budget cycle that ended the policy instability and economic uncertainty of the previous irregular budget cycles.”
Gbajabiamila made reference to the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production and Sharing Contracts Act; the Electoral Act Amendment and the Police Act, among others.
He said the house passed the Police Act to change the nature of relations between the police and citizens in the country and ensure that police officers who fell short of their responsibility could be quickly held accountable.
The speaker regretted that the 9th house could not succeed in “removing some of the constitutional barriers that have long stood in the way of women’s full and unhindered participation in the politics, governance and economy of our nation.”
He, however, said that the issue must continue to be at the forefront of national conversations, urging the incoming 10th House of Representatives to “take up the mantle and do better than we did.”
Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Idris Wase, while lauding the achievements of the outgoing house, said he was proud they were able to bring transformation to a number of communities across the country through their legislative interventions.
He said, “We have done so many things that I want to believe, if we are to count on those things that we have touched the lives of Nigerians, time will not permit.”
In his remark, Majority Leader of the House, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, said members of the 9th house had recorded significant achievements and were leaving fulfilled.
Chief Whip of the House, Mohammed Monguno, lauded Gbajabiamila for upholding the legislative independence of the house during his leadership.
In attendance at the valedictory session were former presiding and principal officers of the house, including Ghali Na’Abba, Patricia Etteh, Babangida Ngoroje and Mulikat Akande-Adeola.
The 10th House of Representatives would be inaugurated on June 13.
By Balarabe Alkassim & Itodo Daniel Sule
