Fred Itua, Abuja
Worried by its public image, the leadership of both chambers of the National Assembly, have initiated moves to change that perception.
The National Assembly has taken steps to improve its public image, as disclosed by the Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan, at a media briefing in Abuja, yesterday.
Lawan said the briefing is strategically planned for change of perception, ahead of the third anniversary of the Eighth Assembly on June 9.
He said the image laundering, packaged by the leadership of the National Assembly, in collaboration with the management of the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS), would be carried out through a programme tagged: “Open week,” by a committee already set up for that purpose.
Said Lawan: “The planned open week is a welcome development which would serve as platform for the general public to interact with federal legislators at close range towards understanding the constitutional functions of the National Assembly particularly as regards constituency projects.
“The open week would bring to the fore, required knowledge about the workings of the National Assembly which are fundamentally, lawmaking, representation and oversight functions on the workings of all federal government agencies.
“As lawmakers, we feel bad about the negative perception of the National Assembly and we must change it in the interest of democracy which to us cannot be development- driven going by the way the institution is misunderstood by Nigerians.”
In his remarks on the open week, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Shehu Shagari, saiid it is a welcome development since the National Assembly has been the most mis-understood arm of government since 1999.