By Hamilton Nwosa, (Head, The New Diplomat’s Poll Tracking Desk)
Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege’s gripping speech on legislative process, electoral reforms and social media at the just concluded international Canadian Commonwealth Conference animated international participants, and drew loud applause from fellow parliamentarians, raising Nigeria’s legislative profile.
Speaking on three key subject matters such as the power of constituents in a legislative National Assembly and the need for effective representation, the Deputy Senate President who drew from Nigeria’s rich legislative experience, stressed the importance of ensuring robust representation of constituents are not arbitrarily abridged, curtailed or diminished through suspension as doing so usually amount to denying constituents voices and effective presence in the National Assembly of a country.
Senator Omo-Agege who identified effective legislative accomplishments so far accomplished by the current Senate under the leadership of Senate President Ahmed Lawan urged all to support the next level agenda of President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration’s drive to accelerate developments at all levels of national growth.
According to Senator Omo-Agege who represents Delta Central of Delta State at the Senate and is the leader of the ruling APC caucus in the South-South geo-political zone, it is therefore important to always accord appropriate attention and priority to citizens and constituents participation including their input in the legislative process. The Deputy Senate President whose speech underlined the key role of effective representation and the rights of constituents to robust legislative representation noted that constituents input in designing and formulating legislative businesses and agenda are key ingredients of vibrant parliamentary procedures.
Using case studies to illustrate his perspective which aroused great interest and drew applause from fellow participants at the international gathering, DSP Omo-Agege canvassed the need for effective representation at all times to give voice to citizens, constituents and the voiceless. He equally spoke on electoral reforms and the role of social media while making a case for a balance between the use of social media and the need for observance of ethical and professional guidelines to help protect citizens rights from fake news. The Conference which focused on themes such as “Connecting Citizens to Parliaments,” , “Challenges and Opportunities from Displacement of Parliaments”, “Parliamentarians as Effective Representatives” and “Inclusivity of Parliaments”, was attended by key leaders of national Parliaments and National Assemblies across the world.
