Fred Itua, Abuja
One year and five months after the inauguration of the National Assembly, Nigerians have listed key areas senators and members of the House of Representatives should focus on.
In a survey conducted by Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman-led National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), over 1,400 Nigerians surveyed in 12 states of the federation, identified three key areas that required attention of the federal lawmakers.
Titled: “Study on Public Expectations of the 9th National Assembly” the outcome showed Nigerians would prefer the lawmakers implement constituency projects, maintain functional constituency offices and attend to problems of constituents.
In the survey, respondents identified limited knowledge of the legislature and its activities, restriction of public hearings to a selected few, apathy to legislative processes, ignorance of the workings of the National Assembly, impression that lawmakers are self-serving, as some of the other key issues that needed to be addresed.
Going forward, Nigerians urged lawmakers to have dedicated outlets and channels through which it could send out information to the public.
They also urged lawmakers to always put the interest of Nigerians ahead of pecuniary interests.
“Improved accessibility to the National Assembly, lawmakers and venues of public hearing is key,” the report further noted.
Speaking on the outcome of the survey, Prof. Sulaiman said: “The fact that we are producing this document shows that democracy is growing in Nigeria. The National Assembly is the epitome of democracy in Nigeria. A lawmaker represents the people and whatever they do, it must reflect the wishes of the people.
“We want to let Nigerians know that the National Assembly is there for the people. We are hopeful that these expectations from the people will be met by the National Assembly.”