Oversight Collapse: Ex-Lawmakers Slam National Assembly

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

In a pointed and passionate legislative discourse held in Abuja yesterday, former lawmakers, legal experts, senior parliamentary staff and civil society leaders sounded the alarm over what they described as a catastrophic breakdown in legislative oversight within Nigeria’s National Assembly.
They spoke at a high-level roundtable organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), aimed at strengthening legislative oversight in Nigeria.
The event brought together key stakeholders including lawmakers, former presiding officers, governance experts, civil society actors, and researchers.
The institutional failure they say, has contributed significantly to the country’s worsening economic woes.
At the centre of the discussion was the critical role of legislative oversight and the widespread neglect of the constitutional duty by parliamentary committees.
The forum, which brought together voices from across the legal and civic spectrum, painted a troubling picture of democratic backsliding, poor accountability, and economic mismanagement.
The Director-General of NILDS, Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, setting the tone for the discussion, emphasised that legislative oversight remains a cornerstone of democratic accountability.
He described oversight as “one of the most important constitutional tools available to the legislature,” noting its critical role in ensuring that public institutions operate within the law and deliver on their mandates effectively.”
Leading the charge was former presidential aide and seasoned lawmaker, Senator Ita Enang, who laid the blame for Nigeria’s economic downturn squarely at the feet of the legislature.
According to him, had oversight committees carried out their roles, particularly in monitoring agencies like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Nigeria could have avoided its current fiscal crisis.
Enang said, “The law we make is sacred but how many of the National Assembly committees have conducted oversight since June 13, 2023? Out of over 100 committees, only one or two have done so. That’s a tragic reflection of our legislative performance.”
Enang cited a case where a committee chair removed a clerk for insisting on due process.
In his paper, Hon. Nicholas Osai expressed concern over the widening gap between legislation and implementation, exacerbated by a compromised oversight process.
He criticised a system where institutions under scrutiny are also responsible for funding their oversight, calling it a conflict of interest that undermines legitimacy.
Osai, an activist and former member of the House of Representatives, said “Out of 105 committees in the House of Representatives, it is difficult to confirm if even 30 have conducted and submitted oversight reports.
“No report means no resolution, and no resolution means no impact.”
Civil society representatives on the occasion echoed these sentiments. Andrew Oaikhena of BudgIT Foundation criticised the opacity surrounding oversight implementation.
He cited instances where lawmakers claim public-funded projects as personal achievements.
Oaikhena also flagged unconstitutional practices where legislators interfere with project execution, he said such roles were traditionally reserved for the executive arm.

He said, “When the National Assembly begins executing projects, it stops acting like a legislature and becomes an extension of the executive. “That erodes the principle of separation of powers.”

The forum also raised concern over the absence of internal safeguards for parliamentary staff.

Prof. Amuda Kannike, SAN, emphasised that such actions discourage institutional accountability.

Kannike posed the most pressing question of the day: “Who oversights the oversighters?”

While the theoretical answer lies with the electorate and civil society, the consensus was that citizen engagement remains weak, hampered by fear, apathy, and limited civic education.

Looking ahead, stakeholders proposed a suite of reforms to reinvigorate legislative oversight.

These include streamlining the number of committees to reduce redundancy, securing financial independence for oversight activities, and creating a National Assembly Budget Office for real-time, evidence-based analysis.

Participants also called for legal frameworks to protect clerks and whistleblowers who expose wrongdoing.

As the dialogue concluded, one theme stood clear: Nigeria’s democratic future and economic survival depend on restoring the integrity of legislative oversight.

The participants insisted that beyond lawmakers, citizens must reclaim their role as watchdogs of public institutions.

Without civic vigilance, they warned that the system will remain susceptible to impunity and that democracy will continue to drift further from its promise.