Sofiat Adenekan-Abdul
The National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) has urged the Nasarawa State House of Assembly to modernise its parliamentary procedures and strengthen administrative systems to improve legislative efficiency.
Director-General of NILDS, Professor Abubakar O. Sulaiman, made the call while opening a capacity-building programme for the leadership and management of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly Service Commission, clerks-at-table and parliamentary administration staff.
Sulaiman said an effective legislature depends not only on elected lawmakers but also on the professionalism and institutional memory of the officials supporting legislative business.
He urged parliamentary administrators to move beyond routine office duties and become strategic managers, custodians of parliamentary procedure and guardians of institutional memory.
The NILDS boss said clear and consistent procedures would make legislative business more predictable, transparent and efficient, while outdated or weak systems could create uncertainty and inefficiency.
He also charged the Assembly Service Commission to strengthen its systems, improve human-resource management and institutionalise merit and competence.
Sulaiman stressed that the impact of training would depend on whether participants translated the knowledge gained into policies, standard operating procedures and measurable institutional reforms.
“Training achieves little when it ends at the point of departure from the training room,” he said, urging participants to turn knowledge into practice and, ultimately, institutional culture.
The training has already prompted calls for changes within the Assembly.
Deputy Clerk of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Paul Samuel Okuja, said the programme had exposed outdated practices that required review.
“There are many things that we’ve been doing that are old-fashioned, but with this refresher training, there are going to be some changes in our order paper, in our vote and proceedings, and order procedure of the House of Assembly,” Okuja said.
He said the practical sessions had provided participants with useful guidance and expressed optimism that the lessons would lead to tangible improvements in the conduct of parliamentary business.
NILDS said the programme is part of its wider effort to strengthen legislative and democratic institutions through capacity development, research, knowledge production and institutional partnerships.
