As the National Assembly fine-tunes its review of the Constitution, the Speaker, House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, on Monday urged state legislators to respect the opinion of their constituents.
Tambuwal spoke at the opening of a two-day policy dialogue on “Deepening Legislative Engagement in Promoting Public Finance Management at the Sub-National Level’’ in Abuja.
Lawmakers drawn from the 36 state Houses of Assembly are taking part in the event, aimed at strengthening their capacities in ensuring transparency and efficiency in public finance management.
The dialogue is organised by the State Accountability and Voice Initiative (SAVI) of the British Department for International Development (DFID) in collaboration with other international development partners.
Tambuwal, represented by Rep. Ahmed Mohammed, the Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, urged the state houses of assembly to “hear with the ears of their constituents”.
“You must abide by the dictates of the conscience of your constituents and speak with their mouths. It is only then that we can truly experience a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
“Soon, the train of constitution amendment will arrive the shores of the various state assemblies and the duty of democratic representative will be activated and the need to vote correctly will arise.
“For us in the House of Representatives, we have exercised this duty and we encourage legislators at the sub-national level to respect the opinion of their constituents and the Nigerian people,’’ he said.
Tamabuwal commended organisers of the event for their commitment to the promotion of good governance in the country.
According to him, the task of efficient public finance management is a fundamental duty of the legislature.
“It is a formidable instrument in activating the doctrine of separation of powers and a fulcrum of democracy.
“Any legislature which fails to perform this all important duty commits a grievous act of abdication and looses the right to answer its name as representatives of the people,’’ the speaker stated.
Mr Inuwa Garba, the Chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, lauded the DFID-SAVI and other partners for their support for the rule of law.
Garba, who is also the Speaker, Gombe State House of Assembly, expressed the hope that the dialogue would improve the capacity of the lawmakers to promote fiscal discipline at the state level.
Mr Kevin Gager, the National Team Leader of SAVI, said that state governments were faced with the challenge of putting the necessary legislative framework in place to enhance public finance management.
“This event is expected to open a constructive debate between you on how to unblock present bottlenecks faced by a number of you in taking forward the reform agendas in you states.
“From this workshop, we hope that you take back to you colleagues a number of ideas that can enhance your work with the executive.
“These include clear action plans and a roadmap to navigate the way forward to help institutionalise the reform framework which states have been seeking since the inception of the present democratic dispensation.’’
