N/Assembly lacks constitutional powers to fight corruption — Lawan

Senate President Ahmad Lawan yesterday said the National Assembly is incapacitated in the fight against corruption and waste of public resources because the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) has not given the parliament the needed legislative powers and bite to do so.

Lawan disclosed this yesterday while responding to a lecture delivered by a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole during the 6th convocation ceremony of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies-University of Benin (NILDS-UNIBEN) held at the National Assembly in Abuja.

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Bankole delivered his lecture on the theme: “Challenges of legislative turnover: Implications for good governance in Nigeria.”

Lawan said though Section 88 of the 1999 constitution (as amended) provides that the parliament shall expose corruption, embezzlement and waste; it did not equip the parliament with the power of sanctions.

The Senate President said, “I think the reality is that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended) as it is today has left the legislature constrained because, in Section 88, it talks of the legislature exposing corruption, wastes and embezzlement and stops there.

“So, when you expose something and you can’t do anything, how does that solve the problem? So, the legislature is really incapacitated, that is the fact.”