Stakeholders have expressed grave concerns about the recycling of bills by members of the 10th National Assembly and their lackadaisical approach to critical national issues, including agriculture, food security, and security.
These observations were made in a statement titled: “OrderPaper Performance Report Card: Surge, Slow Progression, and Recycling of Bills Define 1st Year of the 10th National Assembly,” made available to parliamentary correspondents.
The statement, issued by Founder and Executive Director of OrderPaper, Mr. Oke Epia, highlighted that the first year of the 10th National Assembly saw a surge in bill submissions but a slow pace of progression, with many bills recycled from the previous 9th Assembly.
“The performance report card, based on detailed, objective, and data-driven analysis of bills processed in the first year of the 10th National Assembly, reveals a significant gap between the sponsorship and progression of legislative drafts,” the statement reads.
Data from the report shows that over half of the bills sponsored in the Senate between June 2023 and May 2024 were recycled from previous Assemblies, particularly the 9th Assembly. Similarly, nearly one-third of bills processed in the House of Representatives during the same period were resurrected from the past, raising concerns about possible legislative ‘copy-pasting’ and bill merchandising in the Federal Legislature.
From June 2023 to May 2024, the Senate introduced 475 bills, of which only 19 have been passed, while 416 are still awaiting a second reading. In the House of Representatives, 1,175 bills were introduced, with only 58 passed, and a vast majority (967) also awaiting a second reading.
OrderPaper’s analysis further reveals that 15 Senators did not sponsor any bills, while 149 members of the House, or 12.6% of the total membership, also failed to sponsor any bills during the period under review. Notably, 62% of these representatives are first-time lawmakers.
The report also highlights a lack of attention to critical national issues. For example, bills related to agriculture and food security make up only 5.8% of the total House bills and 7.3% of Senate bills. Security-related bills account for 7.2% in the House and 5.4% in the Senate. Despite the pressing challenges facing citizens in these sectors, many of these bills have not progressed past the first reading.
Mr. Epia assured that the full datasets of the performance report will be available on the OrderPaper website and urged citizens, political leaders, civil society organizations, and the public to stay informed.
He emphasized that while there has been an increase in bill sponsorship, citizens must focus on the progression, value, and impact of the bills. “Citizens must demand accountability from lawmakers by focusing not just on quantity, but on the quality and impact of their work with respect to bills processing in parliament,” he stated.
Speaking on the report, Joy Erurane, Programme Executive (Creativity and Innovation) at OrderPaper, noted that the analysis covered key sectors such as education, health, economic development, security, and public finance. She highlighted the imbalance in sectoral coverage and the troubling trend of bill sponsorship without follow-through.
“While resurrecting bills from previous Assemblies is not inherently bad, it points to a need for genuine legislative commitment,” she said, adding that it raises questions about the accuracy of legislative representation and citizen involvement in critical decision-making.
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