By Gift ChapiOdekina, Abuja

A performance report card released by OrderPaper, a parliamentary monitoring organization, has revealed a surge in bill sponsorships but slow progress in the first year of the 10th National Assembly.

The report shows that nearly a third of the House of Representatives were recycled from previous assemblies.

Out of 475 bills introduced In the House of Representatives, 58 out of 1,175 bills have been passed, leaving 967 awaiting a second reading.

The report also highlights a lack of focus on critical issues like agriculture, food security, and security, with these sectors accounting for less than 10% of total bills.

OrderPaper’s Founder and Executive Director, Oke Epia, in a statement, noted that while there has been an increase in bill sponsorships, citizens must demand accountability and focus on the quality and impact of lawmakers’ work.

According to the report, key findings show slow progress on bills, with many stuck awaiting second reading, recycling of bills from previous assemblies, raising concerns about legislative ‘copy-pasting, lack of focus on critical issues like agriculture, food security, and security

It also revealed that 149 House of Representatives did not sponsor any bills in the first year, 62% of representatives with no bills to their names are first-time lawmakers

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.

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 a second reading.

Commenting on these key findings of the highly anticipated and unimpeachable performance report card of the first year of the 10th National Assembly, Epia, said the surge in bill submissions by lawmakers and slow progress in processing underscores a real challenge the national assembly has been grappling with over the years: getting bills through to the legislative finish line.

Epia stated that while OrderPaper notes that its annual performance reports of the national assembly over the years have led to an increase in the number of bills sponsored by lawmakers, citizens have a responsibility to look beyond volume and focus more on progression, value and impact.

“Citizens must demand accountability from lawmakers by focusing not just on quantity, but on the quality and impact of their work concerning bills processing in parliament.

“OrderPaper Nigeria calls for urgent action from legislators, citizens, as well as partners of the parliament to deploy these performance report cards to push for impactful legislative governance.

“We must move from the hollow boast of sheer volume which willy-nilly results in stalled bills towards impactful laws that address Nigeria’s pressing challenges. The gap between promise and progress must be closed if the 10th assembly is to fulfil its potential.