By Emman Ovuakporie

ABUJA—THREE and half years after the present House of Representatives was inaugurated, it has passed a total of 101 bills, 120 resolutions while 23 bills were rejected

As at December 18, when the House of Representatives went on its Christmas break, a total of 244 legislative outputs came out during plenary sessions that spanned a period of 42 months.

Vanguard probe into the matter further revealed that the lawmakers treated an average of two bills per month.

However when compared to the 6th House (2007-2011), which introduced 481 bills and passed 187, the present House, introduced 668 bills as at December 2014, less than six months to the end of the 7th Assembly.

The 6th Assembly passed 187 bills as at the end of its tenure and from all indications considering the high level of politics in the House in the last three months it will be almost impossible to equal the achievement of the 6th Assembly, a source confided in Vanguard.

He said a vital bill like the Petroleum Industry Bill, otherwise known as PIB may die towards the end of this assembly the way it died in the last week of the 6th assembly.

He explained further that “in all sincerity this House had a well orchestrated sense of direction initially when we started but today no one can really tell where we are heading to now”.

“The only assurance I can give now is that if God prevails, the PIB may sail through like the National Health bill which Mr President has finally endorsed”.

“We may abandon more bills than the 6th assembly if care is not taken but this is not the time to apportion blames”.

“As you can see for yourself, the National Assembly is empty and will remain empty till the last week of March of 2015”.

“By then the politics of who emerges as the new speaker will keep us so busy to the detriment of legislative business”.

“As envisaged, this House may bequeathe more bills to the incoming House making their work heavier if they choose to treat such bills”.

“From the result of the primaries more than 260 lawmakers may not return, so what happened in 2011 is fast becoming a reality in the 8th Assembly”.

“This trend of changing lawmakers like wrappers may not help build our legislative experience as those coming will need to build their capacity to enable them perform optimally”.