Kwara State House of Assembly has passed a total of six bills and 30 motions in the last nine months of the inauguration of the current 10th Assembly.
Speaking in an interview, the Leader of the state House of Assembly, Barrister Abdulkadir Oba Magaji, said that some of the bills passed include Rural Access Road Law, Local Government Electoral Law (Amendment), Environmental Law (Amendment), Education Trust Fund Law (Amendment), 2024 Appropriation Law and one other.
It is recalled that the House was inaugurated in June 2023 following a proclamation from Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
Magaji noted that Governor Abdulrazaq had assented to the affected bills after their passage on the floor of the state House of Assembly.
“We passed about six bills. We have passed a bill on rural access roads and another one on rural agencies. We have passed the 2024 appropriation bill, and amendment to the local government electoral law, environmental law, and trust fund law.
“Those are the six bills we have already passed and signed by the Executive Governor of Kwara State. And we are in the process of passing the RUWASSA law.
“Several motions have been moved and passed. As at last count, I think we have moved between 28 and 30 motions, which had immediate and positive impact on our people”.
On the indiscriminate dumping of refuse, the House Leader explained that an amendment was effected on the state environmental law to ensure commensurate penalty for offences on environmental related.
He added that the government has resolved not to treat environmental issues with kid glove, hence the decision of the House to throw its weight behind the increase in fines for the defaulters.
“For every Kwaran who has been following the activities of the Kwara State Tenth Assembly, they will realize that the Assembly has hit the ground running. We did an amendment to the Environmental Law where we increased the penalty for the offenders. It also includes indiscriminate dumping of refuse.
“The penalty was formerly between N1000 and N5000 but now it is between N50,000 and N100,000. The government of Kwara State is taking the issue of environmental pollution seriously. That was the essence of the bill. It was an executive bill, which had been passed and signed into law”, Magaji said.
Speaking on the relationship between the executive and the legislature, the House Leader pointed out that the synergy has given birth to dividends of democracy for the people.
He added that the Tenth Assembly under its Speaker, Engr Yakubu Danladi Salihu, would not mind being tagged “Rubber Stamp” in as much as the relationship was tailored to move the state forward.
Magaji said, “When there is synergy between the executive and the legislature, some people would think we are rubber stamp because what they expect is that there must be a fight. It is just like if you are married and you have a very harmonious relationship with your wife, they will tell you that your wife has taken your clothes and given you her wrapper. That is what they do.
“Look at it. When government is performing optimally and to its best, it has shown even in the whole of Nigeria that Kwara State has performed creditably well. Our Governor is among three best Governors in the whole of Nigeria. It is not easy for somebody to be given Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum; it is because of his performance. And it is what they are seeing. And the legislature should have a synergy to corroborate and partner with the executive so that the people can benefit from the dividends of democracy.
“Why do we need to fight somebody that is performing? There was one story somebody told me that when they were growing up, there were young boys of one man. Some were notorious for doing bad things, some were not doing bad things. But those who were doing bad things are not the biological children of that particular man. So, the teacher will beat those kids and some people will say the teacher is not beating his child. And his child is not notorious and not doing bad things.
“When the Governor is performing, why don’t we have to now synergize with him. We have to cooperate with him. I can assure you. Most of the work that we are doing is for the benefit and development of Kwara State. We are not rubber stamp. But if that is what they chose to call us for Kwara to move forward, we are ready to be called that”.
