Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba

Christopher Isiguzo 
Apparently miffed by the ongoing verbal war between the Senate and some aides of President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, Saturday  in Enugu declared that no form of intimidation would make the National Assembly abandon its constitutional responsibility.
The Senator said the National Assembly would continue to carry out its constitutional responsibilities no matter how irritable it will be to executive.

Ndoma-Egba said in Nsukka while presenting the annual lecture of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN Faculty of Social Science titled “Legislative Oversight and Public Accountability”, that the National Assembly was vested with oversight constitutional powers and powers to investigate any matter or thing within its legislative competence of any person, affairs, government department and agencies.

“The National Assembly will not abdicate its constitutional responsibilities, including that of oversight, no matter how irritable it is to the executive, as doing so will amount to compromising our hard-earned democracy, Public accountability is the hall mark of modern democratic government. Oversight is aimed at ensure that funds appropriated are effectively utilize to the benefit of people.

“When it is well managed by public officers, the legislature gives commendation but when it is misused, we will also tell the public. Oversight functions are meant expose corruption and inefficiency or waste in disbursement and in management of funds. The privilege of non-accountability remains the privilege for God, madmen and children.

“Nigerians have the right to ask questions on how their resourced were used, noting that with the signing into law of freedom of information act every citizens have been empowered to ask resources were been managed,” he said.

“It is no longer the job of media alone to hold public officers accountable but every citizen of the country. The political culture and values of the people to an extent influence the level of public accountability,” he said.

Earlier in a remark, the Prof Tagbo Ugwu, Dean of Social Science, lamented that despite the age of the faculty, it was still facing infrastructural challenges, noting as result of inadequate classrooms lecturers and student now give and receive lecture under the three.

“The existing classroom spaces do not meet NUC minimum standard of class room. Most times our lecturers and students give and receive lecturers under trees and sometime in university stadium.
“The faculty also needs 500 KVA transformer and 21st century computer centre to aid teaching and learning. In spite the challenges the faculty had been producing graduates that have contributed immensely to national development.”.