Legislators, Oversight, and Misplaced Credit

By Okoi Obono-Obla 

Legislators, Oversight, and Misplaced Credit:

Legislators do not implement decisions or formulate developmental agendas or policy drives — these are the responsibilities of the executive branch of government. Legislators make laws through bills sponsored either by themselves or by members of the public, who must pass through legislators to seek passage of private member bills. Similarly, bills formulated by the executive branch are laid before Parliament for passage into law. Once passed, the President or Governor, as the case may be, appends their signature, and the bills become law. The execution and implementation of these laws fall squarely on the executive through its numerous agencies such as ministries, commissions, extra-ministerial departments, and MDAs.

Legislators also carry out oversight functions on the executive branch and its numerous MDAs to ensure efficiency, accountability, transparency, and good governance. It is therefore astonishing when a legislator claims to have awarded scholarships simply because he chairs a committee in the Parliament that performs oversight jurisdiction on an agency whose core responsibility is awarding scholarships. To boast of such achievements is misleading. How can one take glory for the expenditure of public funds belonging to the people who voted them into office and to whom they are accountable?

Unfortunately, some legislators weaponize these opportunities, using them as instruments to solicit inappropriate relationships. A young woman from Cross River State studying in the United Kingdom shared a heart-wrenching story of how she appealed to a legislator for help in completing her school fees via a scholarship award from a federal agency. Instead of assisting, the legislator made personal advances, suggesting he would like to see her in his hotel room during his next trip to London. When she explained she was married, he refused to help her and cut her off. Yet tomorrow, such legislators would boast that they facilitated scholarships for their constituents.

Similarly, a young man approached a legislator for a letter of recommendation for employment in one of the agencies under the Federal Ministry of Interior. The legislator referred him to his senior aide, who bluntly told the young man that his boss would not provide such a letter because he had previously criticized the legislator on social media. Tomorrow, these same legislators would parade such selective assistance as achievements, amplified by their social media aides.

With elections around the corner, it is imperative that our people look beyond patronage, palliatives, and paternalism. We must vote for sincere, compassionate, and principled individuals into our legislative houses — people who will partner with the executive branch to deliver good governance, rather than exploit public resources for personal gain.