National Assembly, PLAC Launch Digital Platform to Track Legislative Proceedings

•Speaker: Insinuations on legislative budget false

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

As part of efforts to make activities of the legislative arm of government in Nigeria more open and accessible to citizens, the National Assembly and the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) has unveiled a digital platform to track proceedings in the chambers.

The initiative which was packaged by PLAC with support from the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) seeks to beam searchlight on three key areas, including; tracking progress on the legislative agenda, Bills passed by the National Assembly and the legislator’s oversight activities.

The three innovative digital platforms include the PLAC Bills Track, the PLAC Legislative Agenda Tracker, and the PLAC Legislative Repository.

Speaking at the formal launch of the website at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja on Wednesday, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, said the aim of the initiative was to create more citizens’ awareness on the role and activities of the National Assembly with a view to addressing public misconceptions about the operations of the legislative institution.

He said contrary to the wrong notion the country’s National Assembly is enjoying huge budget, the legislative arm of government is about the least funded of the three arms of government.

Abbas, by the lawmaker representing Ahoda/Egbema/Ndoni Federal Constituency of Rivers State, Victor Igbuzor, said the launch of the digital platform developed by PLAC is to serve as a comprehensive hub for information and awareness on the National Assembly and its legislative activities.

He said National Assembly has always been at the receiving end of the public misconception on the role of the legislature, especially as regards the oversight function meant to check excesses of the other arms of government.

According to him the digital platform will enable Nigerians to broaden their knowledge about the legislature and its important role in Nigeria’s constitutional democracy.

Igbuzor said that one of misconceptions is on the issue of funding which some people erroneously believe the legislators are pampered with money.

He said on the contrary the country’s National Assembly is about the least funded of the three arms of government.

“Today, many Nigerians believe, and erroneously so, that the National Assembly is over-funded. Sadly, the National Assembly is the most underfunded arm of the government.

“I am happy that most of the development partners had carried out assessments and investigations on the funding of the National Assembly and came to the conclusion that the legislature is underfunded.

“These digital platforms will be an opportunity to come to reality with the issues in the National Assembly, and perhaps change people’s perceptions about the institution,” he said.

Igbuzor said the legislators were elected to serve the people, adding they will continue to live up to that mandate.

He said that the present leadership of the House of Representatives has embarked on the process of the digitization of its activities.

While giving insights on the objectives of the digital platform, the Executive Director of PLAC, Mr. Clement Nwankwo said that it is important for the legislators to keep up the engagement with civil society and with citizens.

He said the platform will help foster more citizens’ engagement with the legislature and also help engender transparency and accountability from the elected representatives.

“I do know that legislators as individuals face huge demands on them from constituents, from the public and from all of the stakeholders involved in our democracy, but it is also very important that they do not lose the key aspect of their work that involves carrying out oversight, ensuring accountability and ensuring that the legislature responds to the demand of representation that citizens make on them.

“These platforms are important and created to enable us share the information on the different aspects of what we are doing,” he said.

Representative of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth Development Office, Prince Okeke, expressed the hope that the digital platform will help instill more transparency and accountability in the oversight activities of the legislature in the country.

PLAC BillsTrack is an online platform for tracking the status and progress of bills going through the legislative process in the Nigerian National Assembly while PLAC Legislative Agenda Tracker serves as a digital tool that tracks and reports on the implementation of the legislative agenda of Nigeria’s National Assembly.

This is e-signed to enhance transparency, accountability and public engagement; it provides stakeholders with real-time insights into key reforms, bills, oversight activities and legislative priorities of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. On the other hand, PLAC Legislative Repository is an online library that hosts a wide array of legislative documents, research materials, and other key resources for stakeholders and the public