A worrying trend, which unknown to the legislators in Abuja, is a big threat to constitutional democracy, is the lack of public trust and confidence in the investigations being conducted by the National Assembly. This is according to leading Civil Rights Advocacy body, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA).

The relevant sections of the Nigerian Constitution that give the National Assembly their oversight powers are sections 88 and 89.

HURIWA noted in a statement on Wednesday that Section 88 says that each House of the National assembly has the power to investigate (a) any matter in respect of which it has the power to make laws; and (b) the conduct of any parastatal or official responsible for administering any Act of the National Assembly or in charge of disbursing funds.

HURIWA then stressed that whereby the section then says that this power to investigate is only exercisable for the purpose of enabling it (i.e. the Senate or the Reps) to (a) make laws on any matter within its legislative competence and correct defects in existing laws; and (b) expose corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of laws, explains why Nigerians see these probes as money guzzling jamboree since the legislators hardly barks and bite at the same time.

“Besides, Section 89 says, as it relates to their power to investigate, they also have the power to procure evidence, require the evidence to be given on oath, summon anyone to give evidence or produce documents, and issue a warrant to compel the attendance of any such witness,” HURIWA noted in the statement signed by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko.

The rights group, however, expressed fears that “the speedy erosion of public confidence and trust in the capacity and will-power of the National Assembly to carry out the fundamental constitutional duty of providing effective checks and balances on how public resources are managed and mismanaged by officials in the executive arm of government, means that the essence of operating the two chamber of the National Assembly is waning very fast and should be arrested before it Is late.”

HURIWA said it “has found out based on sampling of public opinion from many informed quarters in the Country in the last couple of years, that the parliamentary investigations have never truly led to bridging the leakages that exist in the management of public financial resources. Neither has any of these probes sent corrupt officials to jail, as it were.”

The rights group posited that, “most Nigerians do not trust that the National Assembly can achieve any tangible objective in the Senate’s decision to probe the turnaround maintenance of the four refineries that have remained Moribund despite the sinking of hundreds of billions of dollars of public fund over the past few years.”

HURIWA is proposing that, “instead of wasting public funds on mere political rhetoric and empty jamboree, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should hire internationally reputable body of auditors to carry out forensic audits of the expenditures incurred in the financial bottomless pit called Turn Around Maintenance (TAM), and then the findings of the auditors be used in prosecuting the indicted officials and also recoup funds siphoned by these officials.”

It pointed out that, “as a historical fact, right through since the return of democracy in 1999, both chambers of the National Assembly have been carrying out several probes into the activities of federal government’s ministries, departments, and agencies without results. It is therefore believed that the panel constituted by the Senate to probe the over N11.35 trillion spent on the refineries will embark on another jamboree, just as the Senators will turn it into a trading post for self-enrichment and compromise.”