Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has challenged Governor Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna State, to extend his campaign for transparency in the budget of the National Assembly to other arms of government including how governors spend their security votes.
Speaking while closing a retreat for management of the National Assembly in Kaduna on Friday, Dogara, also challenged the Governors, to, in the spirit of accountability and transparency publish how they utilise funds allocated to local governments.
The Speaker, while reacting to an earlier speech by Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir Ahmed El-rufai, who urged the legislature to make its budget public, disclosed that already, the bureaucracy has been directed to publish the National Assemnly budget beginning from 2017.
Acknowledging the challenges faced by the management of the federal legislature, Dogara stressed that the National Assembly is the most misunderstood institution and that no parliament in the world can win popularity contest and Nigeria’s National Assembly is not an exception.
Dogara, said the Nigeria Civil Service will begin to record progress when it breaks away from its usual tradition to new ways of carrying out its functions and administration.
“As leaders, you must be prepared to motivate the workforce. Motivation is the key to innovation anywhere. For far too long, the bureaucracy in Nigeria has failed to innovate because it is locked in a tradition that defines boundaries that must not be crossed. A tradition that says we have always done it this way and apportions sanctions for those who dare doing it the other way even if the outcomes are better. These are chains that bind the bureaucracy in Nigeria from within. Although the most difficult chains to break are those within us, we must break them in order to free the bureaucracy and make it competitive and innovative. The key to achieving this is undoubtedly, training and retraining in an environment such as this.
“The necessity for every manager to fully understand the ecology of his organization is not negotiable. The legislature is a distinct organisation with several peculiarities, thereby making strategic management approach an imperative. The management of the National Assembly, whatever their managerial competencies, cannot provide efficient and effective services to the legislature except they fully understand and appreciate the organizational goals, objectives and the attendant challenges.
The Speaker commended the visionary leadership approach of the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mohammed Ataba Sani-Omolori, for the swift manner in which he was able to undertake a management needs assessment of the institution, which is the basis for the retreat.