On 9th April this year, I wrote on the National Assembly asking the crucial question in this column one whowho will “Oversight the oversighters”. I had a follow-up on 18th June about the importance of making efforts at saving the reputational erosion of the National Assembly. As we are all aware, our Constitution gives the National Assembly the responsibility to play an oversight role over the executive. This includes giving approvals for key political appointments by the executive as well as overseeing the work of ministries, departments and agencies of government. The assumption of the Constitution is that this will be done in the interest of improved governance. The recent allegations against Farouk Lawan over receiving bribes in the conduct of his parliamentary duties are another element that is contributing to the reputational erosion of the character and integrity of Nigerian Legislators. It was Nasir el Rufai who first blew the whistle when he alleged in 2003 that legislators had demanded for a hefty bribe to facilitate his ministerial appointment. It was the hapless and naïve Professor Fabian Osuji, one time minister of education that dramatized the routine character of corruption in Executive-National Assembly relations. He had been asked for a bribe of 55 million naira to ensure cuts will not happen to his ministry’s budget. He had asked the parastatals in his ministry to pay up their percentages of the bribe. He got into trouble and was sacked.
A argued last week that we all have an interest in supporting the legislature to grow, develop and be an important counter weight to the Executive. We must make the separation of powers principle in our Constitution real. To do so, measures must be taken to improve the reputation and integrity of our legislators. One of the most important issues in this regard is to prevent conflict of interest in the conduct of public affairs in general, and in particular, in parliamentary work. Conflict of interest refers to a situation in which a public office holder exercises an official power, duty or function that provides an opportunity to further his or her private interests or those of his or her relatives or friends or to improperly further another per- son’s private interests. It is clear to us as a nation that repeatedly, conflict of interest occurs in the conduct of official duties of members of the National Assembly. Of course the Standing Orders of the Senate and House of Representatives provide for proper conduct of Parliamentarians. The provisions are obviously not enough deterrence. The time has come to think about the establishment of an Ombudsperson with responsibilities to handle allegations of the misuse of power. Such a position will allow for investigation and commencement of legal action against alleged misuse of power. The Ombudsperson can commence actions independently, or by request of either the Senate or the House of Representatives.
Some countries already include such principles as part of the parliament’s rules of procedure or within the constitution. For example, the constitution of Belize includes the following provisions:
Legislators should not act in such a way as:
To place themselves in positions in which they have or could have a conflict of interest
To compromise the fair exercise of their public or official functions and duties;
To use their office for private gain; To demean their office or position;
To allow their integrity to be called into question; or
To endanger or diminish respect for, or confidence in, the integrity of the Government
In countries where there is no specific reference to the behaviour of legislators, there may be a more general set of principles for all public officials which could be used and adapted to parliamentarians.
The National Assembly needs to identify the basic principles and values that should characterize the institution and the behaviour of its Members. Such principles tend to be general characteristics, such as honesty, integrity and responsibility – principles that few legislators will disagree with. Parliaments can draw on three sources to develop these principles. First, their internal rules of procedure and the Constitution. Secondly, ethics regimes from other parliaments. Thirdly, international standards and guidelines, such as the United Nations Convention against Corruption. Building consensus around these defining values provides a basis from which to develop more detailed rules.
It is important to regulate the activities of lobbyists and all those seeking favours from members of the National Assembly. All official inter- actions with public and private officials should be documented and the purpose and content of discussions recorded. It is very important in this regard for legislation to be passed to allow for divulgation of declaration of assets of all public officers to the Code of Conduct Bureau.
The 19 provisions of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers in the fifth schedule part 1 are not sufficiently specific about what they should or should not do. It is true that paragraph 6 states:
6. (1) A public officer shall not ask for or accept property or benefits of any kind for himself or any other person on account of anything done or omitted to be done by him in the discharge of his duties.
But then, there is a catch as 6.3 states that:
(3) A public officer shall only accept personal gifts or benefits from relatives or personal friends to such extent and on such occasions as are recognised by custom:
Provided that any gift or donation to a public officer on any public or ceremonial occasion shall be treated as a gift to the appropriate institution represented by the public officer, and accordingly, the mere acceptance or receipt of any such gift shall not be treated as a contravention of this provision.
This provides an opening for abuse of the provisions. In Kenya, the Code of Conduct is enshrined in the
Constitution. It provides clear guide- lines for the conduct of public officers and prescribes penalties and establishes an ethics and anti corruption commission to prosecute offenders. It states clear responsibilities for leadership which is defined as a public trust to be exercised in a manner that is consistent with the purposes and objects of this Constitution, demonstrates respect for the people, brings honour to the nation and dignity to the office; and promotes public confidence in the integrity of the office. In addition, it vests in public officials the responsibility to serve the people, rather than the power to rule them. Personal integrity is defined as a guiding principle in the appointment or election of public officials and all public officials are obligated by the Constitution to make a declaration of any personal interest that may conflict with public duties.
Improving the regime of ethical conduct for public officials in gen- eral and legislators in particular is very important for the development of our democracy. The present spate of allegations of misconduct against Parliamentarians should be used as an opportunity to engage in reform aimed at raising the ethical stand- ards of the conduct of governance. The oversight function over the Executive played by the National Assembly is a fundamental element in the edifice that promotes trans- parency and accountability. Most of what we know about mega corrup- tion from the power sector through the pensions system to fuel subsidy has emanated from the National Assembly. The cabals that are loot- ing our resources to extinction have an interest in disparaging and dis- crediting legislators. We all know that there are indeed some bad eggs in the National Assembly. At the same time, we should be conscious that the way forward is not just to malign the National Assembly. We need to devise systems that will make is pos- sible to investigate and sanction the bad eggs without bringing down the system as a whole.
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