Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has identified the National Assembly as the most underfunded arm of the Nigerian government. He spoke at the Lagos/ Osun Hall of Transcorp Hilton yesterday, during the launch of three legislative digital platforms.
The digital platforms, powered by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), include the Bill Tracking Website, the Legislative Tracker, and the Legislative Resources Repository, designed to provide comprehensive and user-friendly access to legislative information in Nigeria.
Represented by Amadi Victor Obuzor, representing Ahoada West/Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni, Abbas noted: “Many Nigerians believe erroneously that the National Assembly is overfunded. Sadly, the National Assembly is the most underfunded arm of the government.
“I am happy that most of the development partners have carried out assessments and investigations on the funding of the National Assembly, and came to the conclusion that the legislature is underfunded.”
According to the Speaker, the digital platforms will be an opportunity to come to reality with the issues in the National Assembly, and change people’s perceptions about the institution.
Giving an overview of the platform, PLAC’s Deputy Executive Director, Omolara Akinyeye, explained that the PLAC bills track was an online platform for tracking the status and progress of bills going through the legislative process in the Nigerian National Assembly.
According to Akinyeye, users can access the status and complete text of bills and legislation, as well as read analyses and infographics on select bills.
