By June 2024, the Enugu 8th Assembly will be one year since it’s inauguration.
How can one assess the performance of the assembly so far?
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Ndi Enugu had thought that since the era of one party assembly is gone, the lawmakers at least ought to have been ‘pro-people’ in the discharge of their legislative duties, but the parliament has accomplished very little and became almost an extension of the executive.
The manner with which the Assembly approved the governor’s loan requests, lack of rigour in screening nominees, improper oversight over government agencies, and the enabling of official profligacy amidst mass poverty in the land are implacable witnesses to its abysmal performance.
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The current Enugu Assembly has forgotten that it is an independent arm of government with the role of exerting the sovereignty and overall interest of the people as the bedrock of democracy.
Through direct representation of the people, their primary functions are to represent the people, make laws and oversee the government through hearings and inquiries.
Where a governor wields enormous powers, the independence, rigour, and commitment of the legislature to ensure that the executive delivers dividends of democracy to the people must be given a special attention.
The ‘seven months old’ Enugu assembly fell short of the expectation of the people. Even though there are some upright, service-oriented individuals in the chamber, but they are in minority.
Screening of commissioners and other nominees by the assembly were mockeries of parliamentary practice.
The 8th assembly toed the repugnant path of ‘bow and go.’
Within seven months, Enugu Assembly approval of Governor Peter Mbah’s 170billion request without thorough scrutiny shows lack of concern for the people they represent.
The latest approval of the 2024 appropriation bill of
N521. 6 billion which the governor has signed into law with much dependence on Internally Generated Revenue further shows the insensitivity of the Enugu assembly.
The Assembly’s oversight function has been very poor, with MDAs carrying on with dodgy budgets and expenditures and poor service delivery unchecked by the parliament beyond headline.
Indolent?
The Assembly fell short of the expectations of Ndi Enugu.
