By Olukayode Idowu
Deputy Speaker, Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu has revealed the plan of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament to amend its Supplementary Act so as to entrench Separation of Powers and guarantee legislative autonomy.
Kalu disclosed this in Abidjan, Cote D’voire, during an interview with journalists at the sidelines of a meeting of ECOWAS Parliament’s Joint Committee on Administration, Finance, Budget, Public Accounts, Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research, of which he is the Chairman.
According to him, when laws become obsolete, they outlive their usefulness to the dynamic society, hence, the need to amend them to strengthen the legislature.
He said that if this was not done, it would allow the executive to become the ‘judge in their own case.’
The parliamentarian said that the attendant scenario of weak subregional institutions would culminate in their losing credibility before the international community.
He expressed confidence that the move would get the buy-in of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.
Kalu while stating that all the member states of the regional bloc would want to see it happen, said: “Rightly put, we need to amend the Supplementary Act.
“The protocols that brought the ECOWAS Commission and ECOWAS Parliament into existence need to be overhauled.
“This is because these laws are not cast in stones; Indeed, no law is cast in stone.”
He revealed that the parliament was also looking at the laws controlling the management, the administration, the operationalisation of so many expectations of citizens, who are members of ECOWAS community.
He said: “We’ll see whether they are fit for our purpose or not. When laws become obsolete, they don’t fit into the needs of the dynamic society.
“We’ll touch them up, so that they’ll become proper and we’ll ensure that we get what we are supposed to get.
“So, we are heading towards that because the Supplementary Act does not fully give the independence of the parliament,” he said.
Konu, an APC lawmaker representing Abia, Bende Constituency, said the legislature is not independent, and the subregion cannot claim to be a democratic institution without strengthening the fulcrum of democracy.
He said: “For a couple of days now, we’ve been busy analysing the rules of procedure, and members are speaking out their minds.
“We are analysing the supplementary act, to find out if there is anything we can do to increase the independence of the legislative arm of the Community?
“So this is the kind of conversations that have been going on,” he said.
Kalu, who is also a lawyer and Chairman of Nigeria’s House of Representatives Constitutional Review Committee, insisted that the legislature is the fulcrum of democratic establishment.
He said: “We are already reviewing the Grundnorm of Nigeria, one of the greatest countries of the Black race.
“It is not happening yet in the ECOWAS community, and we want it to happen.
“I’m sure the heads of government of all the states in the ECOWAS want it to happen.
“We need to sit with them, to make sure that we do it in a way that will strengthen the legislature more than it is now.
Kalu emphasised that once this was in place, the three ethos and principles of democracy, namely, transparency, accountability and credibility, would be observed.
“If the legislature is not strong, when it is supposed to be the watchdog of the other arms of government, the executive will be the judge in their own case.
“They will make their budgets, they’ll oversight themselves, and that is not in line with the expectation of democracy.
“So, there is the need to strengthen the legislature to enable us to observe the doctrine of Separation of Powers.
“The doctrine is clear on the definition of the parameters of the operation of the various arms of government.
“It is like saying, look, legislature, you know your boundaries; executive, you know your boundaries.
“And it is good for each one of them to do the function of being their own leader, and be the watchdog of the responsibilities of the others,” he said.
The lawmaker further noted that the parliament’s push towards amending the act would come with a lot of advocacy.
“It’s not going to be achieved through boxing gloves.
“It’s going to be through lobbying, through negotiation.
“We’ll let people know that if we don’t do this, the Committee of Nations will not see our organization as credible.
“Just because we do not observe the true elements of good governance, transparency and accountability,” he said.
