By OLA AWONIYI

The Tenth National Assembly led by Distinguished Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, is now in the second half of its four-year tenure. From next year, electioneering ahead of the 2027 polls, will take the centre stage in national politics. Therefore, history beckons to the 10th Assembly to accomplish the remaining items on its Legislative Agenda before the heads of members fully turn to politicking. There is no doubt that much has been done. But more remains in the in-tray.

The first two years produced landmark legislation but were also characterized by politics and drama typical of a Parliament. In the midst of all of these, Godswill Akpabio, the President of the Senate and Chairman of the 10th National Assembly, proved his mettle and is poised to continue offering strong leadership.

The Assembly began its annual recess in July and is scheduled to reconvene for the routine plenary session on 23rd September, 2025.

The expectation is that by that date, the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) 2026 - 2028 would have arrived from the Executive arm of government so that the lawmakers can process the document in earnest. A late presentation of the MTEF to the National Assembly will invariably delay the presentation of the 2026 Appropriation Bill. This is because the MTEF is designed to guide the preparation of the National Budget. So the Executive must forward the MTEF document to the Assembly on time to prevent a repeat of last year's experience in which the 2025 Appropriation Bill could not be passed by December, resulting in the disruption of the January - December budget cycle.

Besides the Appropriation Bill, the Assembly faces the onerous task of reforming the electoral system to pave the way for less contentious future polls.

Apparently there are many things to amend in the current Electoral Act ahead of the 2027 General Election. For instance, the Ninth Assembly, in the last reforms carried out, inadvertently created "super delegates" for political party primaries. At the national level, presidential aides, ministers and even the lawmakers, who were not elected delegates, lost their voting right at the primaries. Similarly, at the state level, governors' aides, commissioners and lawmakers who were not elected delegates were disenfranchised at the party primaries.

The reforms bill had already received the assent of former President Muhammadu Buhari before this fundamental error was spotted. A rushed amendment to the document was ignored by the President. The burden of rectifying the error has now become that of the 10th Assembly.

Opinions are divided on a proposal to conduct all polls in the general elections in one day. There is also a debate on whether or not to make electronic transmission of results mandatory. Added to these are the advocacy for an early voting for security men on election duty, diaspora voting and the debate on the need to conclude election disputes before the winners are sworn in.

These and many more are pending before the 10th Assembly as it resumes from its recess. However, the current electoral reforms must be accomplished well ahead of the 2027 polls.

The Assembly is also deeply engaged in the review of the 1999 Constitution. This has been on the top of its agenda, and the process has already reached an advanced stage in the collation of views and inputs from the six geopolitical zones of the country.

The Constitution Review Panels of the Senate and the House Representatives have received many suggestions and recommendations from those engagements.

The current constitution review is expected to address critical issues such as the restructuring of the Federation, particularly devolution of power to the states; State Police, which almost all the states have subscribed to as a way to address insecurity; aligning the provisions for Local Government Autonomy with the ruling of the Supreme Court, statutory responsibilities for Traditional Institutions, and other recommendations.

The conversation around gender inclusivity, particularly in governance, is a big issue for women. Despite intense advocacy, all five gender-related bills failed in the Constitution amendment process in the 9th Assembly. More painful for gender advocates was the lawmakers' refusal to legislate for more women's representation in parliaments, despite the public drama in which the campaigners brought mats to occupy the National Assembly main entrance gate for days.

However, Akpabio has assured women of a positive development in that regard in the 10th Assembly. Speaking at an event in March to mark the 2025 International Women's Day, he said that discussions were being held in the Parliament for emulation of democracies that reserve seats for women in Parliament, even if by appointment.

Akpabio also underscored the seriousness of the 10th Assembly with regards to the issue of gender inclusion when he led Nigeria's delegation, including Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, to the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in Geneva in August. "We told them that legislations are in the making such as the gender equality issue. We may not achieve gender equality but we said gender inclusion. We want to have more women in the Parliament. So we are trying to look at ways and means of achieving that, to ensure that next time we come to the Senate for instance, we will not have only three or four women in the Senate. We should have more women in the Senate. That means we are tinkering with parts of the Constitution to see where we can include more women in the Parliament without necessarily touching the current constituencies that have been created by the Constitution," Akpabio said on his return to Nigeria.

The 10th Assembly apparently has limited time to address the aforementioned issues before electioneering for the 2027 polls takes centre stage. However, the Akpabio-led Assembly has undoubted political will to accomplish the tasks. And where there is a will, there is always a way.

• Awoniyi, Media Aide to the Senate President, writes from Abuja.