CSOs Ask Senate, House to Reduce Committees from 161 to 50 to Save Cost

A coalition of 43 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) under the aegis of Citizens Wealth Platform, on Tuesday in Abuja urged the Senate and the House of Representatives to reduce the current number of committees they have from 161 to 50.

‎The group which made the call at a public session that was held by the National Assembly Institutional Needs Assessment Committee, said there was need for the legislative arm of government in Nigeria to borrow a leaf from South Africa which they said had greater number of lawmakers but lesser committees.

In a paper the group presented through their leader, Mr. Eze Onyekpere, the CSO said: “To run a committee involves a lot of resources and this number of committees spread the resources of NASS too thin.

“Committees need rooms, computers, printers and general consumables, communication gadgets, furniture, cost of travels, interactive sessions, public hearings, hire of consultants and ad-hoc staff, study tours and capacity building activities, etc

“It is therefore imperative that the Senate and the House of Representatives in the exercise of their power to establish committees under section 62 of the Constitution, consider cutting down the number of these ‎committees as a means of reducing costs.

“For instance, ‎the committees on Land Transport and Marine Transport can be merged to one committee on Transport. The committees on Air Force, Army and Navy can become one committee on Defence. Similarly, all health related committees can come under the umbrella of committee on health.

‎The group contended that for the past six years, the cost of maintaining the legislature in Nigeria far exceeded that of Ghana and South Africa put together.
“For the six years (2010- 2015), while the South African Parliament got an average of 0.14 per cent of the budget, National Assembly got 3.15 per cent.

“While Nigerian lawmakers appropriated $735.9million to run their affairs out of a $23.4billion federal budget, South Africa Parliament took $101.7million out of a budget of $74.2billion.

“Essentially, the South African budget is more than thrice the Nigerian federal budget but our legislators appropriated a vote more than seven times the value of the budget of South African legislators.

“The parliament of Ghana got an average of $31.2million every year. When divided per capita by the number of legislators, the figure stood at $1.57million; $0.21million and $0.14million per Nigerian, South African and Ghanaian legislator respectively.

“The allocations of National Assembly between the year 2000 and 2015 amounted to an average ‎of 2.98 per cent of the overall budget compared to the judiciary that got 1.91 per cent of the overall budget during the reviewed period.

“The total remuneration of senators over a four year period amounts to N9.586 billion while that of members of the House of Reps amounts to N26.728 billion, bringing the total to N36.314 billion. When other allowances and perks of office that have ‎not been monetised and the emoluments of staff of NABRO, NILS and the National Assembly bureaucracy is added, the figure shoots up to N61.735 billion over the four years. This amounts to N15.433 billion a year as personnel costs,” the group added.

Besides, it noted that since 2011, the NASS budget had become a first line charge as a statutory transfer, decrying that “the details are no longer available to the public as it is stayed as a lump sum.”

As a way forward, the group, among other things, recommended that all statutory transfers including the allocation to National Assembly should be published in detailed line item format as is the practice with the allocations of other MDAs.

The group further said: “New laws re‎viewing the allowances of NASS members and other political, public and judicial office holders should no longer be made to have retroactive effect.

“The Senate and House of Representatives should equally consider reducing their committees to tally with international best practices from the current 161 to 50 committees.

“How can we reconcile the austere stance of President Buhari who has even expressed his desire not to assign portfolio to some ministers, with an expansionary attitude of the legislators that has gone ahead to constitute 161 committees?

“For the desired change to happen, there is need for us to change the way we do things in this country,” the group insisted.

Meantime, Chairman of the National Assembly Institutional Needs Assessment Committee, Mr. Clement Nwankwo, said he would forward ‎recommendations of the group to the appropriate authorities for due consideration.

Source -Thisday