Speaker Abbas unveils policy on lawmakers, staff capacity development

• as UNDP, other partners hail 10th House’ policy direction

By Christiana Ekpa

The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Ph.D, on Monday, unveiled a policy document on training, retraining and capacity building of members of the 10th House, legislative aides and support staff for better performance and output.
The document, titled ‘Parliamentary Development Programme for 10th House of Representatives, National Assembly, 2023-2027’, was prepared by the Office of the Speaker in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme.
The Programmes Coordinating Unit (PCU) in the Research and Policy division of the Office of the Speaker spearheaded the process of formulating the document.
At the unveiling done by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, on behalf of the Speaker, were several local and international development and technical partners of the National Assembly.
Speaker Abbas, in his address, noted that the document contained the results of the assessment study conducted by the House with the support of the UNDP and other partners.
“The results are presented today in a document titled Parliamentary Development Programme. This is in line with our Legislative Agenda, which identifies the strengthening of the internal capacity of the legislature as a critical factor towards achieving all our other legislative objectives.
“As a result, the document before us today reflects our current capabilities and the urgent requirements needed to elevate the standards of our legislative functions,” he said.
The Speaker noted that the need for continuous capacity strengthening in the legislature was well known to all. He also stated that the high turnover rates at the National Assembly posed a significant challenge to maintaining continuity and building on the institutional knowledge crucial for effective governance.