Now that the political campaign has started towards next year’s elections, we know serious governance, especially legislation, is in recess. There is very little to celebrate in a legislative system where public investigations can consume enormous public funds, generate sensational headlines, expose alleged financial wrongdoing and then disappear without a clear conclusion.
If this is what Nigeria has come to accept as legislative oversight, then the time has come to ask a difficult question – what exactly is the National Assembly investigating for? Nigeria’s National Assembly has constitutional powers to investigate corruption, inefficiency and waste in the administration of public funds.
Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution empowers both chambers to investigate matters within their legislative competence and the conduct of ministries, departments and authorities responsible for administering public funds. The corresponding Sections 128 and 129 give state Houses of Assembly similar investigative powers. The problem, therefore, is not a lack of constitutional authority but an apparent absence of a sufficiently strong mechanism to ensure that an investigation produces an outcome. The growing list of unfinished probes is disturbing.
Investigations into crude-oil theft, alleged discrepancies running into hundreds of trillions of naira in NNPCL’s accounts, petroleum-sector controversies and the alleged Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council have all generated considerable public interest, and recently, a further revelation of fake MDAs. Yet Nigerians are repeatedly left waiting for final reports, identification of culpable individuals, recovery of funds, prosecution or concrete institutional reforms. To be fair, we say this is not oversight at its best.
A legislative investigation should not be judged by how dramatic the hearing room becomes, how many officials are summoned, how many threats of arrest are issued or how many newspaper headlines are generated. Its real test should be what changes after the committee finishes its work.