Dr. Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has provided some explanation as to why the house expanded the size of its standing committees from 109 to roughly 137.
Speaking with media in an interactive session in Abuja, he emphasized that the goal of the measure was to assure effectiveness. The Speaker said that several of the committees were too big for effective monitoring, precluding the reformative step.
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He revealed that a monitoring committee had been formed and said that all standing committees had been issued a directive to ensure. For instance, the committee on tertiary education had over 300 agencies to oversee, and at the end of each year, they would find themselves unable to oversee part of them, he said. To ensure efficiency and keep a watch on the executive’s actions, we must therefore deconstruct the situation.
“Not all committees were active in the past. Now, we want to make sure that every standing committee is active and striving to improve Nigerian society.
“We seek results and want to assure transparency. To keep an eye on their activities, we established the monitoring committee. Abbas revealed that the lower parliamentary chamber would hold a training session for press corps members every three months to maintain professionalism.
According to Lady Grace Ike, the head of the House of Press Corps, the media are still committed to advancing good government through unbiased and impartial reporting.
