CYRIL MBAH, Abuja
The Senator representing Bauchi North in the 10th Senate, Senator Samaila Dahuwa Kaila, has blamed the poor performance of current National Assembly members on inexperience, lack of training and the large number of new lawmakers in both chambers of the legislature.
Kaila said his decision to seek another term in the Senate was driven by the need for continuity, to gain more experience, and to strengthen institutional capacity in the legislature.
Speaking to newsmen after collecting his Expression of Interest and Nomination forms to seek reelection for a second term in the Senate, Kaila said his intentions in trying to return to the legislature was to sharpen his law making skills, adding that one can only gain experience in lawmaking through an extended stay in the legislative chambers.
“First of all, let me tell you that the legislature is a continuous process that requires institutional memory, training, and other requirements.
“So, any constituency that is fond of removing or changing its legislators is not doing any good to the nation, and not doing any good to the legislature, neither are they doing anything good to the country. You can see the low quality of our legislation today.
“The reason is that most of us in the Senate, almost 80 per cent, were new. So, if you are changing your legislators without considering the fact that it is a process that requires training, a process that requires institutional memory and a lot of other things, then you are not doing anything good for the nation. That is why legislation is not very qualitative. “But we hope that with this election, we are going to have enough experienced hands in the legislature, and we hope the legislation will be more qualitative and more in the interest of the nation,” Sen. Kaila explained.
On the process of monitoring constituency projects, the lawmaker said, “You have to understand that constituency projects are not legislative work. They are not part of our mandate as legislators; constituency work is an executive function. So, we are only leveraging on it to show our people what we do. But actually, it is the executive that executes the work.
“So, you cannot rate a legislator based on constituency projects. But I am happy to say we have done a lot this year. We have done quite a lot, and we believe that in the next few months, the President will release enough funds to the executive, and they will complete all the constituency projects that we have started. We hope that in the coming months, people will understand what we are saying.”
While denying allegations of being a bench warmer in the Senate, Kaila, who is the Deputy Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health said that he has used the legislative process to affect many government policies through motions or bills.
“Let me first of all say that when you are a legislator in the Senate, you are a legislator for the nation, not for your constituents. So, many things that come your way may not necessarily directly impact your constituency; they impact the nation as a whole.
“For instance, I am the Deputy Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, and we have seen and passed many bills and legislation that do not directly affect my constituency, but they directly affect the nation’s health and well-being. So, I think we are happy that whatever we are doing is in the interest of the nation,” he concluded.
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