PDP Governors Forum seeks public accountability in governance

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4 years ago

The Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum has stressed the need for public accountability in governance as it noted that it is critical for the success of any democratic administration.

The Director-General of the forum, Hon. CID Maduabum, who stated this in Abuja on Thursday, pointed out that responsiveness is an element of democratic governance.

The forum DG and former member of the House of Representatives spoke at a training workshop for members of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Public Petitions.

He maintained that no nation can claim to be practising democracy and treat the will of the people, expressed through legislative resolutions, with disdain and even contempt.

The DG said: “In a democracy, public accountability is critical for the success of any government. Indeed, responsiveness is one of the main elements of democratic governance.

“You cannot claim to be practising democracy and treat the will of the people expressed through Legislative Resolutions with disdain and even contempt.”

Speaking on the topics, “Improving on Citizens Experiences in the Hearing of Public Petitions” and “Strategies for Ensuring Compliance with Public Petitions Resolutions”, the PDP Governors Forum DG explained that public petition is so crucial to the work of parliament that it is specifically listed as one of the businesses of the day.

“As a practical matter, the Speaker must request for petitions from members every day, before commencing other businesses of the House,” he said.

Maduabum also stressed that the public petitions process is critical for ensuring integrity and fairness in the legislative responsibilities of the legislature.

He added: “In the House, for instance, one of the techniques members use to bypass legislative scrutiny or to prevent the house leadership from blocking discussion of a particular subject is through Public Petitions.

“You can circumvent barriers placed for discussing unpleasant measures through this procedure.

“The public petitions process is critical for ensuring integrity and fairness in the legislative responsibilities of the Legislature.”

He pointed out that the public petition system in Nigeria is designed to ensure public access to the legislature and also enable the members to represent their constituents effectively.

In his words, “the drawback of resolutions not being enforceable as law can be overcome with creative and innovative legislative mechanisms outlined in this paper.”

He suggested that the public petitions committee and indeed, the legislature should ensure that their recommendations and resolutions stand the test of time.

According to the forum DG, House resolutions should not be whimsically adopted but should be a product of thorough investigation and prodigious research and be implementable.

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