Former Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang on Thursday blamed the National Assembly for the failure of the Nigerian economy, the rising debt profile of the country and the collapse of the national currency, the naira.
Enang stated this at the public presentation of Oversight Magazine dedicated to reporting events in the parliament and published by a former member of the House of Representatives, Aniekan Umannah.
He said the failure of the National Assembly to ask relevant questions was responsible for the problems in the economy
Enag who served as Chairman of both the House and Senate Committee on Rules and Business said both chambers of the National Assembly have never published any report of their oversight function as required of them or asked critical questions about the nation’s debt.
According to him, the lawmakers have often embarked on oversight to see what the Ministries, Department and Agencies are doing, they have never brought their report to the floor of the parliament for deliberation as required of them.
The ex-Special Adviser said the failure of the executive arm of government both at the state and national level to perform optimally is as a result of the failure of the oversight function of the National Assembly as well as state Houses of Assembly across the country.
“It is the fault of the National Assembly failing to do their oversight function. If the National Assembly were able, they would ask questions. When you pass a budget, you embark on oversight to see how much of that budget has been released and to what extent the projects in that budget have been executed.
“After that, you bring a report to the floor stating how much has been released and to what extent that project has been executed. You will then know how much is needed to complete those projects that will be included in next year’s budget and what to project in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, in the next three years to exit that project.
“So, the failure of the Nigerian economy, the collapse of the naira and the unimaginable debt of Nigeria is the failure of the National Assembly,” he said.