DTHA Workshop: Enhancing Legislative Oversight Through Effective Documentation

‘Enhancing Legislative Oversight Through Effective Documentation and Presentation’, is the theme of a two day workshop for Clerks of Committees of the Delta State House of Assembly, holding in Asaba, the state capital.

Speaker of the House, Rt Hon Emomotimi Dennis Guwor who described the theme as very apt to enhancing the Legislative Agenda of the 8th Assembly, said absence of uniformity has been observed in the internal working and reports by the House Committees.

Guwor in an address delivered on his behalf by the Deputy Speaker, Rt Hon Arthur Akpowowo, stated that it has become expedient to have a template and manual to guide Clerks of Committees in their duties.

He said, “One of the fundamental operational systems in the Legislature is the Committee system. The Committees established by the House are the engine room of the House and are generally regarded as the House in action outside plenary.

“The functionality and success of the Committees depends largely on the knowledge and skills of the Committee Clerks.

Rt Hon Guwor noted that Clerks of Committees have a lot of responsibilities, ranging from meeting preparation, record keeping, Bill tracking, witness coordination, report drafting, research support, procedural guidance, and administrative tasks.

Stressing that those crucial functions require professionalism, the Speaker said the objective of the Workshop is to enhance the capacity of the Committee Clerks and develop a template that will guide the secretariat work of Committees of the House.

Guwor implored the participants to take the Workshop seriously to achieve the set goal.

“This workshop will be more of practical than theory. I can assure you that the resource persons ably led by our brother John Mutu are the best in the field of legislative practice and procedures in the country.

“You are enjoined again to take full advantage of this opportunity provided for you by the leadership of the House.

“On this note, I wish to thank African Parliamentary Resource Centre for availing the House the best of human resource to facilitate this Workshop”, Guwor said.

Clerk of the House, Otto Aghoghophia, explained that the role of Committee Clerks in the State Assembly is pivotal and essential to lawmaking and thanked the Speaker for the initiative to strengthen the capacity of the Committee Clerks.

He said “On behalf of Management and Staff of the Assembly, I want to thank Mr. Speaker and the leadership of the House for providing this unique opportunity to train and enhance the skills of Committee Clerks in carrying out their duties.

“Mr Speaker, we know for sure that you have a penchant for training and retraining of Staff of the Assembly. We promise not to take this privilege for granted, rather we will be more committed in our assigned duties.

“I therefore urge all participants to reciprocate the kind gesture of Mr. Speaker by actively participating in the technical sessions. We will appraise and evaluate your performance by the output and reports of your different Committees going forward”, Clerk stated.

Executive Director, African Parliamentary Resource Centre, and Lead Consultant for the capacity building workshop, Mr John Mutu, commended the Delta State Assembly for always promoting sound innovations and development in the Legislature as a key component of democracy and good governance.

Mr Mutu stated that Clerks of Committees play very important roles in oversight function of the legislature as well as budget sessions, public hearings, and other legislative duties.

“This workshop in the next 2 days will focus on preparing Clerks of Committees to take proper records and documentation of proceedings of the various house committees. In many cases there are no proper records of the past Assembly to the current Assembly and so most times the Committee chairmen have little or no information to work with.

“So this training will enlighten Committee Clerks in this regard thereby strengthening the 8th Legislative Agenda of the Delta State House of Assembly which is in line with the More Agenda of the State Government”, Mutu stated.

The Lead Consultant explained that members of the house also depend on the reports from the Committee Clerks in making informed decisions.

Mr Mutu stressed that it was therefore important for the Clerks of the various Committees to be properly equipped on good record keeping and documentation processes.

Topics, including “An overview of the Legislative Agenda of the 8th Delta State Assembly and the Role of Committee Clerks”, “Public Policy and the Role of Committee Clerks”, “The Role of Committee Clerks in the Oversight and Appropriation Process” and “Tips for Effective Documentation and Presentation in the House”, have been selected for discussions.

Prof Ernest Ereka, Barr Ibrahim Usman, John Mutu and Dr Joseph Ochogwu are the resource persons for the workshop which will also feature plenary discussions as well as questions and answers sessions.