Forty-eight members of the House of Representatives and five Senators failed to make any contributions during plenary sessions over a 12-month period, a new report has revealed.

The lawmakers did not sponsor bills, move petitions or motions, nor take part in debates between June 14, 2023, and June 13, 2024, according to the Erudite Growth and Advancement Foundation (ERGAF-Africa). The findings are contained in its Deliberative Barometer and Policy-Focus Productivity Report (NASS-DBPFR), released Thursday.

Over the period, the Senate recorded 2,275 plenary activities, with debates accounting for 663, or 29.1%. The House of Representatives logged 4,239 activities, of which 507, just 11.9 % came from debates. Bills introduced for first reading represented 15.5% of Senate business and 21% of the House’s.

Lawmakers who recorded no plenary contributions include Abubakar Baba Zango (Yola North/Yola South/Girei, Adamawa), Mohammed Inuwa Bassi (Ganye/Jada/Mayo-Belwa/Toungo, Adamawa), Nnabufie Chiwe Clara (Orumba North/Orumba South, Anambra), Abdulkadir Rahis (Maiduguri Metropolitan, Borno), Stainless Chijioke Nwodo (Aninri/Awgu/Oji River, Enugu) and Yaya Bauchi Tongo (Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye, Gombe).

Others are: Jonas Okeke, (Ehime mbano, Imo); Adamu Yakubu ( jigawa); Ibrahim Usman (Jigawa); Sani Nazifi (Jigawa); Madawaska Dahiru (Jigawa);
Yahya Richifa (Kaduna); Yusuf Bashir (Kaduna).

An analysis by sector showed that economic issues featured most prominently in Senate deliberations (18.5%), followed by security (13.7%) and education (10.9%). In the House, security topped the agenda with 16.9 per cent of discussions, trailed by economic matters (13.7%) and education (10.4 %).

Barau Jibrin, the deputy Senate President made the most debate contributions in the upper chamber with 38 interventions, while Julius Ihonvbere, thebHouse Majority Leader led in the lower chamber with 26.

On substantive motions, Michael Opeyemi, the Senate Leader ranked first with 10, while Ihonvbere also topped the House with 12.
For petitions, Senator Ngwu Osita submitted the most in the upper chamber with three, while Okey Onuakalusi, representing Oshodi-Isolo federal constituency in Lagos, led the House with 14. On points of order, Opeyemi and Ali Ndume of Borno South shared the lead in the Senate with six each, while Borno’s Ahmed Jaha recorded the highest in the House, also with six.

This report was deisgned to serves as a vital policy instrument to restore robust legislative deliberations, foster participatory governance, and ensure that legislators remain accountable to the people they represent.

The Nigerian First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, Friday, met with religious leaders and traditional rulers in Lagos State during the first day of her three-day official visit to the nation’s commercial city.

The interactive meeting, held at the Lagos State Governor’s residence in Marina, afforded the First Lady the opportunity to interact with opinion leaders at the grassroots on the impacts of her Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) in Lagos and other states of the federation.

The event was attended by All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders and National Assembly lawmakers in the state, Lagos cabinet officials and members of Governance Advisory Council (GAC).

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu led members of the state’s entourage to welcome the wife of the President to the State House.

Senator Tinubu was accompanied by the wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima and wife of the Chief of Staff to the President, Salamatu Gbajabiamila.

The traditional rulers were led by Chairman of Lagos State Council of Obas and Chiefs, Oba of Lagos, Alayeluwa Rilwanu Akiolu, who was represented by his vice and Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Kabiru Shotobi.

The forum served as a feedback platform for the First Lady to gauge the impacts of the RHI flagship programmes at the grassroots and intimate the gathering about ongoing interventions her Office has been doing in Lagos.

Sanwo-Olu, in his opening remarks, said that the traditional and religious leaders were critical stakeholders in grassroots governance, noting that the opinion leaders were the closest contacts to the citizens.

The governor also said that Senator Tinubu had brought hope to the vulnerable and the elderly through the Renewed Hope Initiative, stressing that the First Lady conceived the project with the goal to lift citizens, regardless of their political, economic and ethnic backgrounds.

“Over the last two years, the First Lady has birthed new initiatives and ideas to drive Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu across communities in the country, leveraging the influence of her office to bring the desired results. The Renewed Hope Initiative is next to none in the volume of interventions and impacts. Through RHI, Sen. Tinubu has activated a lot of programmes to meet the needs of the vulnerable people at the grassroots.

“The impacts are being felt across the geopolitical regions of our country. These positive impacts have energised a new era of grassroots engagement and empowerment; many lives have been touched across the nooks and crannies of the country. All of these have been done without any financial contribution from the government’s purse.

“The First Lady has driven this initiative through her influence, contact, passion and commitment to supporting our communities. She has done this without any political coloration or affiliation. Opposition states are feeling the impacts of the Renewed Hope Initiative the same way APC states have benefited. This shows that the motive behind RHI was not political, but a compassionate action taken to make life better for citizens who need support,” Sanwo-Olu said.

Tinubu gave an elaborate explanation about a series of programmes and interventions being implemented by her Office in Lagos, noting that the First Lady Office, through RHI, had distributed 100,000 education materials to pupils across Lagos schools, including N1 million scholarship and laptops.

Lagos, the First Lady pointed out, also got 140 scholarships through the Federal Ministry of Education Bursaries programme of 2024, adding that the state had benefited from RHI school renovation projects.

Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are currently holding a closed-door meeting at the Zamfara State Government House in Gusau.

Although the agenda has not been officially disclosed, sources suggest the meeting is linked to the ongoing zoning debate ahead of the party’s 102nd National Executive Committee (NEC) session scheduled for Monday in Abuja.

A major item before the NEC is the zoning of leadership positions in preparation for the elective convention slated for November 15 and 16, 2025, in Ibadan.

The Zamfara meeting is viewed as a strategic step by PDP governors to harmonise their stance before Monday’s NEC gathering.

The zoning decision is expected to carry major implications for party unity and its prospects in the 2027 general elections.

This development comes at a time when the PDP is battling internal divisions, making the outcome of these meetings critical to its survival.

While details of the Zamfara talks remain under wraps, it is expected that the governors will also deliberate on other pressing issues affecting the party’s stability and electoral strength.

As the NEC approaches, attention is now on how the PDP leadership will navigate these choices and position the party for the next election cycle.