By Oluwakemi Kindness
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has called for stronger collaboration between the National Assembly and civil society organisations (CSOs) to close the persistent gap between budget approvals and project implementation.
He also said effective legislative oversight is key to ensuring Nigerians benefit from public spending.
He stated this on Tuesday while speaking at the National Assembly Open Week in Abuja, sating many Nigerians have yet to feel the full dividends of democracy despite 25 years of uninterrupted democratic governance and huge budgetary allocations approved by the legislature.
Dogara said the disconnect between what lawmakers appropriate and what is eventually delivered to citizens remains one of Nigeria’s biggest governance challenges.
He stressed that legislative oversight should go beyond routine committee visits and reports to become a robust mechanism for exposing corruption, inefficiency, waste and poor governance.
According to him, every naira appropriated by the National Assembly must be spent for its intended purpose and deliver value to Nigerians.
Dogara described civil society organisations as the “eyes and ears” of the legislature, noting that they provide community-based information, technical expertise and credible evidence that can help lawmakers track constituency projects, monitor public expenditure and identify implementation failures.
He urged the National Assembly to institutionalise collaboration with CSOs beyond the annual Open Week to strengthen accountability and public confidence in democratic institutions.
The former Speaker also called on the executive arm of government to cooperate fully with legislative oversight by providing timely access to information, while urging civil society groups to support oversight with verified data and documented findings.
He commended the leadership of Speaker Abbas Tajudeen and Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu for sustaining the National Assembly Open Week, describing the initiative as a bold step towards greater transparency, citizen engagement and democratic accountability.
