Abbas: We increased number of standing committees for better oversight of MDAs

Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house of representatives, says the leadership of the lower legislative chamber created new standing committees for effective oversight functions.

Abbas spoke in Abuja on Tuesday at an interactive session with journalists.

In July, Abbas established new standing committees, increasing the number to over 133 from the 109 inherited from the previous assembly.

Before the speaker unveiled the committees, some groups had objected to the expansion of the number of committees.

The African Parliamentary Advocacy and Reform Group (APARG) said increasing the number of the committees instead of the quality would result in a “serious decline in legislative assertiveness”.

Explaining why he increased the number of the committees, Abbas said it was to allow for better legislative oversight of the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government.

The speaker denied insinuations that the new committees were created for some lawmakers to serve as chairpersons and deputies.

“For example, the committee on tertiary education had over 300 agencies to supervise and at the end of every year, they will end up not being able to oversight some of them,” he said.

“So we have to break it down to allow for efficiency and to put eyes on what the executive is doing.

“The committee has been broken into university education, federal polytechnic, federal colleges of education and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).”

Abbas said measures have been put in place to ensure that all standing committees live up to their expectations.

“In the past, not all committees were active. Now, we want to ensure that all standing committees are active, working for the betterment of the Nigerian people,” the speaker added.

“We want to ensure transparency and we want results. That is why we set up the monitoring committee to monitor their activities.”

“We have also set up a standing committee to monitor the implementation of our legislative agenda. I want to assure the people that we will work for the betterment of the country.”

Abbas said the monitoring committee was set up to drive transparency and results of other panels.

“We have also set up a standing committee to monitor the implementation of our legislative agenda. I want to assure the people that we will work for the betterment of the country,” he said.

In her remarks, Grace Ike, chairperson of the house of representatives press corps, said journalists covering the parliament would always act professionally in the discharge of their responsibilities.