Can we legislate more efficiently?

If anyone has ever wondered, ‘why is it so hard for things to progress in Nigeria?’ or why it takes so long for development to materialise and is looking for answers, try the legislative process. I admit that although I have been a lawyer for close to 11 years I am still baffled by the process by which ideas and policy actually evolve into law. It can be a long and convoluted process and in a youngish democracy like ours, different factors contribute to making it an arduous journey.

The reason why it is important to review the law making process is because apart from the fact that it is expensive for taxpayers to support a federal legislature and thirty six state legislatures, the strategy and direction of the country is reinforced with the laws which are passed. For instance, President Yar’adua’s desire to restructure the oil and gas sector finally resulted in the submission of a Petroleum Industry Bill to the National Assembly just in time for him to make a ‘check’ mark on his 2008 to do list and go a step further with his objective to use the law to drive his reforms. The first time we heard about these plans was in August 2007 when we also learnt that this was an attempt to implement the recommendations of the Oil and Gas Reform Committee which was set up in 2000. Timelines starting to get a little scary? Ninety six or sixteen months later, depending on when you started looking forward to or dreading the oil and gas sector reform; the policy has evolved into a draft bill. Now depending on how much support the bill has, the timeline for the bill to be passed into law is anyone’s guess; it could be swift the way the ‘3rd term’ issue was resolved or it could be slow...like I can bet the bill ‘for an act to establish auctioneers registration council’ will be.

There is a drafting process where the policy is quartered and drawn into parts, sections and sub sections – in other words – law. Where the bill originates from the Executive, it must go to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for review to ensure compliance and harmony with the Constitution and other existing laws. However where the bill originates with the Legislative arm, the MoJ review takes place just before the Presidential Assent and after the bill has been duly passed by the National Assembly.

Only then is the draft ready to receive a series of approvals as it moves towards the National Assembly. Typically, bills undergo three readings in each house before they become law. For the first reading, the bill is not actually read, just listed as presented in the Order Papers, the agenda for the House. Then a date is fixed for the second reading, which is often considered the most difficult stage for any bill. This is where the debate on the key issues happens – with general policy and impact on society considered. Sometimes the debate results in the bill being sent on to a committee of the house for more detailed review. Each level of the National Assembly has several standard committees e.g., on health, justice, appropriations etc and the relevant committee or committees are tasked with reviewing the bill in detail – in line with their expertise. Where none of the standard committees are germane to the bill, an ad hoc committee is set up specifically to look into the bill. The review at this stage covers every single clause as well as recommendations for changes. It is at this stage that public hearings are usually called – especially on controversial issues.

The 3rd and final reading is where the bill is passed – i.e., as far as that house is concerned, the bill has been approved for law and can be passed on either to the Senate (where the bill originates in the House of Representatives) or on to the President for his assent. If the bill is going on to the Senate it has to go through the entire process of except the 2nd reading and often amendments by the Senate on a bill passed by the House of Representatives will result in the bill being sent back to the House of Representatives for their approval.

Back to why it is critical to look at the legislative process: unsubstantiated information (because if the details are on the National Assembly website, they have been very well hidden behind the freedom of information bill) from the MoJ is that fifteen bills were assented into law in Nigeria in 2007, compared to thirty one laws passed in 2007 by the United Kingdom parliament. Undoubtedly how many laws we pass in comparison to other countries is not important but it is interesting that very few of the laws passed have any bearing on supporting President Yara’adua’s 7 point agenda on (1) Power & Energy (2) Food Security and Agriculture (3) Wealth Creation and Employment (4) Mass Transportation (5) Land Reform (6) Security and (7) Education. If the laws passed in a country are indicative of focus, we could be doing a lot better – an indecent dressing bill doesn’t quite measure up when you consider the issues we have and the expensive and time consuming process of law making.

It would be useful if organisations such as the Nigerian Bar Association or Nigerian Legal institute could track and publish information on the laws being passed, the average length of time each bill spends in the National Assembly and the impact these laws have on society. Apart from the value this information would bring to those planning to introduce bills, it would also be much easier for us to rate our legislators at the end of their tenure – and if they are found wanting – tell them their ‘bill’ is up.

Published January 27 2009