Understanding the National Assembly Recess

Chuks Okocha

The National Assembly is currently on recess and it is expected that the federal lawmakers would resume their legislative duties on September 13. But it does not imply that the National Assembly has been shut down. No, the National Assembly is on break, but members of both chambers – the Senate and the House of Representatives – are on daily basis busy doing their legislatives duties. Even before proceeding on their annual break, the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, announced at plenary of that committees of the senate should endeavour to use the recess to complete their outstanding oversight duties.

This is one unique aspect of the legislature that Nigerians are yet to fully appreciate. This can be attributed to the country’s several years of military rule. The work of the legislature does not start and end with the plenary sessions. No, like all legislative assemblies across the globe, their duties do not end with the plenary sessions. The bulk of their duties are done at the committee level.

So, it would be absolutely wrong to say that because the members of National Assembly sit in plenary from Tuesday to Thursday every week, that should be the basis for computing the number of days they sit to make up the mandatory 181 days that they are expected to sit in a legislative year. No, it is not so. Majority of the legislative duties are performed at the committees’ level, when they do their oversight functions.

If not, how could the Senate be on break, to resume September 13, and the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs is busy screening the ambassadorial nominees submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari. When the Senate commenced its annual break, it does not mean that the activities of the National Assembly have been shut down. This is because any committee of the Senate, indeed the National Assembly, that has outstanding duties are obliged to use the opportunity afforded by the break to complete its oversight functions over government parastatals.

It was in this regard that while the National Assembly was on recess, the presiding officers continued their day to day duties, as if nothing had happened. For instance, while on break, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, were busy attending state duties, like the inauguration of the rail transport between Abuja and Kaduna. In fact, other members of the transport committees of both chambers that have oversight functions were also in attendance at the inauguration.

Also how come that the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs under the chairmanship of Senator Monsurat Summonu in conjunction with other senators were able to screen the 47 ambassadorial nominees. Buhari had on June 9 submitted the names of 47 career Foreign Service officers to the senate for screening as well as confirmation as Nigeria’s envoys to other countries.

The Senate, though on recess, was able to screen all the career ambassadors, who were subsequently granted audience by the Senate President after the screening exercise.
Within the same week of their break, the Chairman of the National Assembly, Saraki, inaugurated the committee on the budget review under the chairmanship of the Senate Leader, Senator Muhammed Ali Ndume. The event had members of the House of Representatives and the National Institute of Legislative Studies (NILS) who are members in attendance. Also, the Senate President received the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs who was on a diplomatic business shuttle to Nigeria in his office.

So, despite being on recess, there are no doll moments at the National Assembly, whether on break or not. It would be unfair to the legislators to say that by going on recess they have not completed the mandatory 181 legislative days that they are expected to sit. So also, it would be absolutely wrong for Femi Falana, SAN, to call on the Accountant General of the Federation to ensure that federal legislators who have not met the mandatory 181 days to refund the money collected for the number of days they failed to sit at the National Assembly.

Falana went further to state that the federal lawmakers were embarking on incessant recess. He said the Senate sat for only 96 days, while the House of Representatives sat for 104 days out of the 181 mandatory days the two chambers of the National Assembly are expected to sit.

For the avoidance of doubt, and for the information of Falana and others of that ilk, details of the legislative calendar for the period, June 9, 2015 to June 9, 2016, show clearly that the Senate sat for 181 days. The document signed by the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, and the former chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Babajide Omoworare, and the Clerk of the Senate, Barrister Solomon Ntuen, shows that the Senate sat for 181 legislative days between June 2015 and June 9, 2016.

According to the records of the senate, the senate sat for four days between June 9 and June 12 before embarking on a two-week break. It resumed from break on June 23 and had legislative sittings for three days before embarking on break again to resume July 28 and sat for 13 legislative days and thereafter embarked on its annual vacation for six weeks.

The senate resumed from its annual break on September 23 and sat for six days before going on break to observe the October 1 independence day for a day. It resumed again on October 5 and had its plenary nonstop to December 17, 2015 before adjourning for the Christmas and New Year break. Within this period, it sat for 53 days. The Senate resumed on January 12, 2016 and worked for another 52 days before going on break for the Easter holidays for eight days. On resumption from the Easter break, it worked for another 50 days that ended on Thursday, June 9, 2016. These are verifiable dates. So why the unnecessary outburst by the learned Senior Advocate of Nigeria that the Senate only sat for 96 days!

It is equally an over exaggerated statement to state that the Senate was shut down to enable the senate president attend his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. Most of the tribunal sittings were conducted either on Mondays, or when the Senate was on break.
Besides, the Senate has a deputy senate president, who presides when the president of the senate is unavoidably absent.