Part-time Legislature As Cost-Cutter? By Obike Ukoh
It is a recurring debate, the desirability or otherwise of lawmakers in the country working on full-time basis. Though it is not universal, proponents of the idea are of the view that Nigeria should adopt practices to suit its peculiar circumstances.
Such peculiar and unique adoption, they say, is federal character and geographical spread in appointments, among others.
Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, the incumbent senator representing Abia North Senatorial Zone, brought the issue to the fore once again when he recently suggested that lawmakers should work on a part-time basis.
There were mixed reactions to Kalu’s position but all agreed that there was a need to cut the cost of governance, which informed Kalu’s position.
The former Senate Chief Whip and current chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation, said part-time legislature at both federal and state levels would help the nation cut costs and enhance trust in the polity.
The former Abia State governor and one-time member of the House of Representatives appealed to his colleagues to support the idea.
Kalu said inter alia: “I think it will be a very good idea if my colleagues and other members of the houses of assembly will agree that we can sit for three months and do constitutional amendment first.
“So we can sit four times a year and if there’s any emergency, there will be emergency sitting. We can come to do a presidential bid on that basis and go back, instead of sitting on a full-time basis.
“Not only the Senate and the House of Representatives, but all the legislative houses in Nigeria will be part-time.”
Senator Kalu maintained that this would be part of austerity measures to reduce cost of governance, arguing that regional government is another viable alternative.
“If we’re going for a regional government, it also means that the ministers, the legislators, will be the same. I’ve been tinkering with the idea of how we can save money to run Nigeria, because the country needs money.
“But I want Nigerians and my colleagues to do a quick constitutional amendment so we can go and be a part-time sitting Senate and part-time sitting House of Representatives, and the other 36 state houses of assembly in Nigeria.
“That will bring trust and bring relief to the Nigerian people,” Kalu stressed.
Jonah Onuoha, a professor of Political Science, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), who commented on the issue, appealed to Nigerians to support the call for part-time legislature.
He said the adoption would help the country cut down the cost of governance as well as achieve robust legislation.
“Given the high cost of governance in the country now, the proposal for part-time legislature in National and State Assemblies in order to reduce cost is coming at the right time.
“If supported by the majority of Nigerians, the only thing is to amend the relevant sections of the Constitution.
“Part-time legislature will not only reduce cost, but give enough time to legislators to prepare for every sitting, that will enable them to make robust contributions that will produce quality bills,” he said.
Onuoha, who is the director, Centre for American Studies, in UNN, described the proposal as apt and a show of patriotism.
“Kalu is not bothered by the amount of money he will lose, if the proposal sails through, but benefits the country will derive from part-time legislature, which shows love of fatherland by Kalu,” he said.
The don noted that, with part-time legislature the “do-or-die affair” in conducting legislative primary and general elections would become a thing of the past.
“Only a few persons with genuine intentions to offer effective representation to their people will now contest legislative elections.
“The majority of countries in the western world operate part-time legislatures, that is why the cost of governance is low and their elections witness little or no violence and rigging.
“In such countries, those who contest legislative seats have one business or the other they are doing to earn a living.
“They don’t see politics as a profession, but a part-time affair to contribute to national development,” Onuoha said.
A political stalwart in Ebonyi State, Mr. Beke Chukwujekwu Oji, said that the suggestion was novel, reiterating that it would reduce the cost of governance: “It will ensure that intending lawmakers are stable financially and have the zeal to serve the people.’’
He noted that the clamour by most people to go to the parliament is because Nigerian lawmakers are overfed.
“Part-time legislature will check the trend and boost quality legislation, as one who is overfed cannot make reasonable contributions,’’ Oji added.
Dr. Ben Igwenyi, an associate Law professor, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, said that part-time legislature was not as easy as that, adding that advanced democracies like Britain, the United States, and India, among others, still have full-time legislature.
Igwenyi, who was former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Ebonyi State, said that countries may have their peculiarities, which would necessitate a domestic approach.
He said, if adopted, it may also face challenges, adding that a part-time lawmaker may claim he is outside the country when a meeting is summoned and make unreasonable claims for return journey to the country.
Igwenyi also raised the issue of co-ordination of constituencies by part-time lawmakers.
The law teacher suggested that the country should adopt a unicameral legislature at the national level, and at the state level.
Since the unicameral system is working at the state level, why not adopt it at the federal level, Igwenyi, queried.
Chief Abia Onyike, former Commissioner of Information and Orientation in Ebonyi State, said, to a large extent, state houses of assembly are working on a part-time basis, however, “they only sit, most of the time, on the promptings of the executive.
“This is because they are not financially independent.”
Abia said the proposal for part-time legislature was a patriotic and germane call, adding, however, that the “National Assembly is very pivotal and essential for our democratic consolidation.’’
Onyike opined that “once the parliament becomes part-time, the dictatorship and tyranny of the executive arm becomes crude and terrible.’’
He also aligned with the views of others that most advanced democracies still have full time legislature.
All in all, many stakeholders believe that the part-time legislature will usher in a new order that will sanitize the system and institutionalize a culture of service and discipline that is lacking in today’s Nigerian politics.
They also drew attention to the fact that the business of law making has always been done part-time by legislators.
Attendance at sittings, they say, is noticeably poor as most members go about their personal businesses when they are supposed to be sitting and find time to attend only when it is convenient.
Besides, both houses of the National Assembly sit only between Tuesdays and Thursdays every week. In essence, what is currently referred to as a full-time legislature, is in reality a part-time one, where members merely struggle to beat the minimum attendance prescribed by the law.
The situation is even worse at the state level, as they do not have structured time like the National Assembly.
The practice from the education sector, where practising lawyers teach officially in law faculties in universities, is a pointer that if adopted, part-time legislature will work effectively and efficiently.
The suggestion made by Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu, and others is an idea, which as a result of the current economic realities in the country, ought to be holistically appraised with a view to implementing it.
The implementation of a part-time legislature will not be injurious to anybody, but the country stands to gain. It may also not be out of place, to constitutionally fix the number of ministries, as a way of also cutting costs.
