KWHA: Blazing the trail with representative legislation

The 8th legislature of Kwara State House of Assembly on Tuesday virtually made history by reading a Bill for a law on Violence Against Persons Prohibition Bill 2015, which passed its first reading. Head Politics, MUMINI ABDULKAREEM writes on the implication of the action on the polity.

On Tuesday, the Kwara State House of Assembly under the leadership of Hon Ali Ahmad, blazed the trail of qualitative legislative representation by initiating the process of a bill, which passed its first reading in the 24-member hallowed chamber.

Sponsored by Hon Mohammed Sulyman Ba'aziki, representing Gwanabe/Adena/Bani constituency of Kaiama local government area of Kwara State, the first reading of the bill titled "A Bill for a Law on Violence Against Persons Prohibition Bill 2015" raised fundamental questions about the composition of the 8th Assembly and was seen by many as serious pointer of what is likely to be expected in the days ahead.

After what some analysts described as a shaky start to legislative business, which was attributed to the large number of new law makers that populated the House this time around, the 8th Kwara Assembly seems to have picked up the pieces from that episode going by proceedings that have transpired at plenary since then. Tuesday's incident was a "defining moment", according to the Speaker while introducing the bill to the house.

According to a political analyst, despite all the successes recorded by the 7th legislative assembly in the state, which also included the inauguration of a very stable House that reportedly spared the government unnecessary executive and legislative confrontations capable of distracting the wheel of governance as observed in other states, that achievement came heavily depleted and blighted by the inability of the immediate past assembly to move a single bill throughout the about 180 days it sat.

It would be recalled that the last time the 7th Assembly held its valedictory on Thursday 4 June, 2015, that very successful farewell only documented about 41 bills (all executive bills), 41 motions and 150 resolutions arising from petitions.

While some of these bills, which went through public hearing and robust debates at the plenary sessions impacted positively on the lives of Kwarans, the inability to originate any of them from the chambers was seen by some critics and even enthusiasts of the 7th Assembly as one of its minuses and not representative enough of the people who the members represented in the first instance. It was on this premise that the argument which suggested that the House was a rubber stamp of the government almost thrived though this had been disproved by many members of the 7th Assembly through the many bills it rejected or returned to the executive for it to do the needful on them.

While reacting to the situations in one of her interviews with this medium, a member of that House, who also made it to the 8th Assembly, Hon Sikirat Anako, absolved the House of laxity or lacking the capacity to initiate and pass private bills and attributed the dominance of executive bills then to matters of finance.

According to the law maker representing Odo-Ogun Constituency of Oyun Local Government, "when you want to move a bill, you have to ensure and also work for the successful passage of the bill in the first place and the executive should work on it. That is the reason why most of us who wanted to move bills stopped them because of the financial situation of the state... you don't just stand up and make unnecessary bills that will not see the light of the day", she added.

However, with the look of things, it seems the 8th Assembly is determined and ready to take the bull by the horn as regards initiation and passage of private bills this time around. According to findings, that resolve is going to be one of the major planks on which the current Assembly will further impact the polity and the reason, according to commentators, is obvious.

For one, the current Speaker of the 8th Kwara Assembly, who made history during his stint at the 7th National Assembly as the law maker with the highest number of bills moved is coming into the picture with a rich national and international legislative experience. He is ordinarily expected to provide the needed experience and drive that will nudge members this time around towards looking in that direction also.

Secondly, the present law makers in the Kwara Assembly, especially some of the new ones, have demonstrated their readiness and resolve to take the House by storm this time around in the quest to providing qualitative and representation in the true sense of the world this time. Although, people like the House Leader, Hassan Oyeleke have left no one in doubt about his capability and capacity as a grounded legislator who is very versatile, conversant and conscious about his responsibilities and the fact that the likes of Hon Kamal Fagbemi has left no one in doubt about his qualities as a law maker that knows his onions among the returnee members. The latter has even already moved a motion on Tuesday for the state government to call on the Federal Government to complete the dredging of River Niger and in partnership with relevant stakeholders to sensitise and provide adequate sensitisation for the people living along the river banks to avoid been caught unaware when Cameroon releases its dam water this year.

Some of the new members, after the initial lull, have made and have been making bold statements about their abilities and potentials to the extent that it has even become a joke that "the new law makers have boxed some of the ranking legislators to the corner and taken over the floor of the House during submissions and arguments at plenary".

In this group are the likes of the Deputy Speaker, Hon Matthew Okedare (Moro), who presided over the House during the Speaker's absence on two occasions, Hon Matthew Babaoye (Irepodun), the mover of the motion for Dangote trucks to be cleared off Ilorin Highway for indiscriminate parking of its long vehicles, Hon AbdulRafiu AbdurRahman (Ilorin Northwest), who moved the motion for the House to call security operatives in Oke-Kura prisons to order on the way they treat the citizens on the pretext of security consciousness and Hon Jimoh Akanni (Ifelodun), who has brought the plight of his community to the House on the issue of the abandoned electrification contract in his community. Others are Chairman, House Committee on Health, Hon Ahmed Muhammed (Kaiama), Hon Adamu Usman (Okuta/Yashikira), who has moved a motion urging the state government to urgently find lasting solution to the indiscriminate construction of speed breaker in the state, and Chief Whip, Hon Umar Mohammed Gunu (Ilesha/Gwanara), among others, who have given quality responses to the debates and submissions at the floor of the House.

But for Hon, Mohammed Ba'Aziki Suleiman, who moved the bill, it was another outstanding performance. After raising a matter on urgent public importance penultimate week for the House to urge the state government to urgently come to the aid of the people of Kaiama Local Government through construction of Tunga-Maji Bridge, he followed it up with the bill on Tuesday.

While introducing the bill, the Speaker, Ali Ahmad said "We have a new bill and I think this is the first of its kind in the history of this 8th Assembly because for a long time, we haven't seen a private member bill. I call on the House Leader, Hon Hassan Oyeleke to open a new vista in the history of the 8th Kwara state legislature where members will scan our laws and situation and not wait for the executives to forward bills to the House.

"We are legislators and we should work to bring about the passage of laws for the proper maintenance and rule of law and order in the state. Though the federal legislature has passed the bill, we need to pass it too because we want to be sure that there is no lacuna in the war against violence on our people... especially against our women and ... we immediately recall that the issue of jurisdiction is being raised by lawyers. So we want to block this hole so that when you perpetrate violence against mainly women, you now face the music... Whatever the case, if this bill is passed and it is assented to by the governor, violence against persons will be a thing of the past because violators will have no place to hide either in the law court or under any technical issues of jurisdiction or whatever. This is just a tip of the iceberg and this 8th Assembly will be a House that will leave its mark and will not wait for anything or anybody when it concerns issue of our people because we live among them and know what they are feeling and will do everything to advance their cause further", the Speaker added.

Commenting on the bill, Oyeleke commended the focus of Hon Ba’aziki as a first timer getting a bill for the consideration of the house, adding that he has thrown a challenge to the entire House by his action.

Speaking exclusively with Assembly Watch after plenary on the bill, Hon Ba'aziki said he has prepared himself from inception as a former councillor for this assignment to make laws that will affect the lives of the people positively, which has really motivated him.

"We see a lot of things happening in the rural areas and they are suppressed because the belief is that when they are known, the victims suffers stigmatisation.

Speaking further on the bill, Ba'aziki said "We have freedom of liberty in Nigeria and ordinarily the rights you are supposed to be getting are not there or they are being denied. The issue of somebody that has a privilege over you taking advantage to punish you unlawfully is affecting everyone, most especially in the rural areas. People are being raped and molested and the relatives or families may not take it as they should have done because of the fear of social stigma. But if there is a body that is saddled with the responsibility to take care of that and expressed the view of that individual, the saner the society" stating "let's just keep our fingers crossed and see what happens in the house".

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