By Passman Akpos
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Abbas Tajudeen, has said that the increase in the standing committees of the House from 109 to 134 was to allow for better legislative oversight of the ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government by the legislature.
Abbas, who made this known durng an interactive session with journalists in the National Assembly Complex, on Tuesday, decried the aim was to share leadership positions among members.
He noted that some of the committees of the house were too large for effective oversight functions.
“For example, the Committee on Tertiary Education had over 300 agencies to supervise and at the end of every year, they will end up not being able to over sight some of them.
“So we have to break it down to allow for efficiency and to put eyes on what the Executive is doing”.
“The committee has been broken to committees on University Education, Federal Polytechnic, Federal Colleges of Education and TETFund,” he said.
The speaker said that all standing committees have been given marching orders to ensure efficiency in their work.
He stated that a monitoring system have been put in place to monitor and evaluate the works of the various committees.
Abbas, however, assured that under his leadership, the existing relationship with the media will be strengthened.
The speaker assured that the House will carry out a quarterly media briefing on its activities to enlighten Nigerians on the steps taken by the parliament.
He disclosed the House’s plan to train members of the Forth Estate every quarter on parliamentary reportage as part of efforts to ensure professionalism in reporting the activities of the parliament.
Earlier, the Chairman of the House of Press Corps, Ms Grace Ike has stressed that the press is fundamental in democracy and also committed to promoting good governance through objective and balanced reportage.
She said that as professional, journalists are also conscious of national interest and have been doing the job with utmost patriotism.
“We are not oblivious of the fact that the parliament is the bastion of democracy, hence, the reports coming out of it must reflect the reality on ground and meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.
“However, we also need the cooperation and support of your leadership to continue offering undiluted service to the nation.
“We need the understanding of committee chairmen and their members in reciprocating our friendly gesture and carrying us along in their activities.
“The parliament is a specialised area so there should be training and retraining of journalists and given utmost priority. We look forward to seeing this materialised,” Ike said. (NAN)
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