“OPEN LETTER TO RIGHT THINKING NIGERIANS-Counting The Cost of Akpabio’s Lack of Focused Leadership Due To The Distractions with Natasha and other Issues:
"OPEN LETTER TO RIGHT THINKING NIGERIANS-Counting The Cost of Akpabio's Lack of Focused Leadership Due To The Distractions with Natasha and other Issues:
“OPEN LETTER TO RIGHT THINKING NIGERIANS-Counting The Cost of Akpabio’s Lack of Focused Leadership Due To The Distractions with Natasha and other Issues: Case Study of AKPABIO as The Statutory Chairman of NASS, NASC, NILDS, NABRO, NALTF, PCC, NASS PENSIONS BOARD: SEVEN NASS AGENCIES THAT COULD NOT PRODUCE TWO YEAR (2023-2025) PERFORMANCE REPORTS OF SENATORS”
By
Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja.
Dear Right-Thinking Nigerians,
By way of introduction my name is Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja, I am a lawyer with nineteen (19) years experience as a legislative lawyer. Ten of those years, I have served as a staff of the Nigerian National Assembly’s Institute for Legislative Studies.
Last year, I was appointed as a consultant (by the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures in Nigeria) for the project to undertake a digital infrastructure needs assessment of both the National Assembly and the 36 State Houses of Assembly of Nigeria.
It was during the period of undertaking this research study that I discovered that the last comprehensive performance report in this regard was in the year 2014 by the National Institute for Legislative Studies, which is one of the institutions of the National Assembly.
The majority of performance reports of the Bills, Constituency funds, and other activities of both the Senators and House of Representatives members of the National Assembly are those published by non-profit, Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) such as the
1. Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Abuja, FCT https://placng.org/i/
2. Order Paper, Abuja https://orderpaper.ng/half-of-10th-nass-bills-recycled-report/
3. International Press Centre, Lagos State, https://www.ndr.org.ng/how-senators-fared-with-lawmaking-first-year-in-the-10th-national-assembly/
4. BudgIT, Lagos State https://budgit.org/post_publications/2025-budget-insertions-by-the-national-assembly/
5. Private individuals: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/05/gatekeepers-or-spectators-national-assemblys-2-year-performance-gap-by-dakuku-peterside/
I am writing to those of you who still have their thinking faculties (common sense) intact.
There are many who have become so swayed by financial inducements, ethnic and political sentiments that they regard an criticism (no matter how constructive) of the Senate President as an affront and disrespect!!!
This letter is not an attack on the personality of the President of the Nigerian Senate who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian National Assembly.
He is a jolly good fellow that has an ever cheerful demeanour!!!
This letter is to identify and provide EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE of some of the consequences of some of his actions that has distracted him from focusing on the performance of the core duties of law-making such as his fixation on Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan!!!
In the Igbo language there is a proverb that says: “After the race, is when we count the mileage”.
Likewise, as we approach May 29th 2025, we are preparing to count the mileage that the 10th Assembly under the leadership of the Chairman of the National Assembly, His Excellency, Godswill Obot Akpabio-GOA has achieved two years since after he assumed office in the year 2023.
In a bid to obtain a comprehensive performance report of the 109 Senators of the National Assembly, I have searched online through the websites of all the institutions and agencies of the Nigerian National Assembly and there is no such comprehensive report.
Since by virtue of all the legislation and Regulations that established all these seven (7) agencies, the President of the Senate is always designated as the Chairman of the Governing Boards, it follows logically that he is to take responsibility for the failure to provide a comprehensive performance report of the National Assembly from the year 2023 to 2025.
I challenge all the readers to undertake a search on the websites of the following agencies of the National Assembly as follows:
1. National Assembly, https://nass.gov.ng/
2. National Assembly Service Commission, https://nasc.gov.ng/
3. National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), https://nilds.gov.ng/
4. National Assembly Library Trust Fund (NSLTF), https://naltf.gov.ng/
5. National Assembly Budget Research Office (NABRO),https://nabro.gov.ng/
6. Public Complaints Commission (Ombudsman),https://pcc.gov.ng/
7. National Assembly Pensions Board established by Act of the National Assembly in the year March 2023. Both the Management Board and the website are not yet operational. https://www.thecable.ng/nassembly-commission-seeks-return-to-contributory-pension-scheme-two-years-after-exit/
