Why legislature remains a misunderstood institution – Saraki

A former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday, said the parliament remains a “misunderstood institution” because people, especially youths, have little knowledge about it.

Saraki, who spoke at a virtual meeting to celebrate the International Day of Parliamentarianism, said, “The ordinary role of the parliament is still not appreciated by the public. And that is why people’s expectation and judgment of the efficiency of parliament is falsely premised. The false premises may be because the parliament is the youngest among the three arms of government in Nigeria.”

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According to him, many people expect parliamentarians to construct roads, drainage and other infrastructures when they are clearly the job of the executive, and added that parliament existed to pass laws to guarantee the welfare of the people.

He recalled that from day one when he took over as the Senate President and Chairman of the Eighth National Assembly, he and his colleagues knew that their law-making responsibility “must be devoted to using the law to bring change, the type that promote and ensure our people’s welfare and security.”

Saraki further said developed countries like the US were made by the quality of their laws and that the senate under him did just that.

The former senate president giving an example, said the senate under him, through the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions treated 192 cases, noting that no senate handled up to 20 before him.