A new report has indicated that 62 per cent of first-time lawmakers in the National Assembly have no bills to their names in the past one year.
The performance report carried out by Order Paper revealed that 15 senators did not sponsor a bill, while 149 members of the House of Representatives, which is 12.6 per cent of the total membership, did not sponsor any bills in the period under review.
The publisher of Order Paper, Oke Epia in a statement issued Tuesday added that security-related bills account for 7.2 per cent of House bills and 5.4 per cent of Senate bills.
It added: “In a similar discovery, nearly one-third of the bills processed in the House of Representatives within the same period were resurrected from the past.
“This trend raises grave concerns about possible legislative ‘copy-pasting’ and further swirls speculations of merchandising of bills in the federal legislature.
“The analysis by OrderPaper shows that from June 2023 to May 2024, the Senate introduced a staggering 475 bills out of which only 19 have been passed while 416 remain stuck awaiting second reading.
“In like manner, out of 1,175 bills introduced in the House of Representatives in the same period under review, only 58 have been passed while a vast majority of 967 are awaiting second reading.
“Among several other datasets produced by the inimitable OrderPaper analysis, 15 senators did not sponsor a bill while 149 members of the House, which is 12.6 per cent of the total membership, did not sponsor any bills in the period under review. Notably, 62 per cent of these representatives in the green chamber with no bills to their names, are first-time lawmakers.
“The performance report also highlights a troubling lack of focus on critical issues of national importance. Bills related to agriculture and food security make up only 5.8 per cent of the total House bills and 7.3 per cent of Senate bills. Security-related bills account for 7.2 per cent of House bills and 5.4 per cent of Senate bills.
“Despite the significant challenges faced by citizens in these sectors in recent years, bills addressing these issues remain few, with many not even progressing past the first reading.”
The report pointed out that the 10th National Assembly lacked focus on critical issues of national importance.
It said that this was despite the significant challenges faced by citizens in these sectors in recent years, adding that bills addressing these issues remain few, with many not even progressing past the first reading.
The revealed that Bills related to agriculture and food security make up only 5.8 per cent of the total House of Representatives bills and 7.3 per cent of Senate bills.
The report showed that over half of the bills sponsored in the Senate between June 2023 and May 2024, were recycled from previous assemblies, especially the immediate past 9th assembly.
The report showed that from June 2023 to May 2024, the Senate introduced a staggering 475 bills out of which only 19 have been passed while 416 remain stuck awaiting second reading.
It noted: “In like manner, out of 1,175 bills introduced in the House of Representatives in the same period under review, only 58 have been passed while a vast majority of 967 are awaiting second reading.
“The first year of the 10th National Assembly has witnessed a surge but slow pace of progression of sponsored bills, a significant number of which were proposals recycled from the preceding 9th assembly.”