Assessing Kwara’s 9th and 10th Assemblies Under Yakubu Danladi: A Legacy of Legislative Failure.
By Bashir Ashura.
Unarguably, the 9th and 10th Kwara Assemblies, under the leadership of Yakubu Danladi Salihu, will go down in history as the worst the state has ever witnessed. The reason is that, the two assemblies were, and are peopled by members who are largely incompetent and ignorant of their legislative roles and who cannot advocate or champion necessary and impactful laws and reforms. Kwara has never had it this bad.
A significant number of lawmakers in the 9th and 10th assemblies were and are ill-equipped with the knowledge and experience required to effectively perform their legislative functions and address critical governance issues in the state. This has led to a concerning level of inactivity and docility in the House in the past five years. Rather than focusing on their official duties and addressing important state matters, these lawmakers are more preoccupied with political maneuvering, prioritizing the interests of their political establishment over their legislative responsibilities.
This sentiment is reinforced by the poor legislative performance of both the 9th Assembly and the current 10th Assembly. A majority of the lawmakers have fallen short of their core mandate, with many failing to sponsor or initiate any bills or motions. According to the Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD), an anti-corruption Civil Society Organization promoting good governance, transparency, and accountability, 80% of the bills passed during the first three years of the 9th Assembly (2019-2023) were executive bills proposed by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
In its KwaraBillsTracker report, ENetSuD revealed that in the period under review (2019 to 2022), the 9th Kwara Assembly passed 25 bills into law. Of these 25 bills, only 5 were initiated and sponsored by the lawmakers and that was in the first year of their inauguration. The remaining 20 bills were proposed by the Governor.
Following in the shoes of their predecessors, members of the present 10th Kwara Assembly have been in the parliament for over 15 months now, yet none of them has initiated and sponsored a bill, including the Speaker of the House, who has been majorly preoccupied with political activities and how he will succeed the incumbent governor of the State in 2027. It is my hope that Kwara is spared from another leadership disaster, as it would be catastrophic for an incompetent governor to be followed by an even less competent one.
The lawmakers under Danladi’s leadership have not only underperformed in their lawmaking duties but have also been not alive to their oversight responsibilities. Lawmakers are empowered by law to carryout oversight functions; to supervise and, where necessary, investigate the implementation of projects and programmes by the Executive to ensure they are properly executed. But, how often does the present Kwara Assembly exercise this function? When was the last time lawmakers undertook an oversight of any state project? Concerns have been raised about the quality of some state government projects, yet the Assembly remains largely indifferent. If the Assembly had been diligent in its duties, the Tanke Flyover that has been a subject of controversies wouldn’t turn out the way it is now.
In a functional democracy, the parliament serves as the highest platform for expression of public aspirations and ventilation of public grievances against the actions and inactions of the Executive. Debates and discussions at the parliament are meant to address and throw light on various issues of public importance. Unfortunately, this has not been the case with the Danladi-led Assembly. Anyone who has attended Kwara Assembly proceedings under the present dispensation would be disappointed by the poor quality of debates that hold there.
In recent time, Kwara State has witnessed an unprecedented increase in kidnapping activities, with communities and families living in constant fear and agony. The state government and security agencies have failed to effectively respond to the crisis, leaving families to secure the release of their loved ones through payment of ransom to their abductors. As representatives of the people, what have the lawmakers in the Kwara Assembly done to address the frustration faced by their constituents? It appears they care less.
While the alarming legislative performance of these lawmakers is concerning, it did not come as a surprise to well-meaning Kwarans who know that many of these lawmakers got into the parliament, not by merit, but through the influence of the Otoge movement that swept across the state. Like Governor Abdulrazaq, most of these lawmakers, including those representing the state at the National Assembly, were unprepared for the responsibilities of governance and leadership; they are accidental leaders. I believe this situation should serve as a stark reminder that voting people into government positions should not be based on party affiliation but on merit and competence. One can only hope that Kwarans have taken a lesson from this. God bless Kwara!
Bashir Ashura writes from Patigi Local Government.