Speaker charges committee members on anti-corruption fight

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, on Monday urged members of the house’s standing committees to be committed to the anti-corruption fight of the present administration.

Dogara gave the charge while the inauguration the committees in the green chamber in Abuja.

He said that each committee was expected to lead the fight through their legislative actions.

"The Constitution has specifically reposed in the National Assembly, not the Executive, the duty and responsibility to “expose corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of laws within its legislative competence.

"This also includes the disbursement or administration of funds appropriated by it and the committees remain the most important mechanism for carrying out this solemn constitutional mandate,’’ he said.

He said that the leadership of the house would be ‘’very sensitive to any report of wrongdoing or corrupt practices by any member or leadership of a committee."

"By choice we have declared in our Legislative Agenda that ours is a people-centred house, ’’ he said, adding that the implication was that ‘’in this season of change, our people must be at the centre of our committees’ oversight assignment."

He added that ‘’in this season of change, members have lost the liberty to engage in the pursuit of self. The unbridled pursuit of self may justly be pronounced the very definition of poverty.’’

Dogara, expressed the hope that the committee would afford members the opportunity to serve and empower the people and not themselves, reminded all of the need to work together as a team.

He said that a committee that worked together had better chance of executing its mandate successfully and urged of leadership of committees to involve every member in their activities.

He also said that related committees should hold ‘’joint policy oversight and investigative hearings’’, where convenient.