Rt. Hon. Aliyu Sabi'u Muduru
Speaker- Katsina State House of Assembly
About Katsina State House of Assembly.
"I am elected as the youngest Speaker in the history of the state".
"I need your support, cooperation, and advices on how to move the house forward and you are free to call me to order when I am about to drift."
Rt. Hon. Speaker Aliyu Sbi'u Muduru.
Origin and Growth of the House
The Katsina State House of Assembly came into being in 1992 on the threshold of what is now reckoned by history as the aborted third republic. In 1989, the Federal Military Government as part of its transition to civil rule programme framed a constitution. However, as the new constitution had not come into effect, the Federal Government enacted the State Government (Basic Constitutional and Transition Provisions) Decree No. 50 of 1991. The Decree provided for all necessary democratic institutions for the States and also the modalities for conducting elections. Section 2 (1) of the Decree provided that there shall be a House of Assembly for each of the States of the federation. Consequently, elections were held and for the first time in history, Katsina State had a House of Assembly which was inaugurated in the first week of January, 1992. The Interim National Government which was successor to the federal military government abruptly terminated on November, 17th 1993 and the military once again returned to poer, with General Sani Abacha as its head. Barely one year after the take over, the new military government instituted another political programme. Precisely, on 27th June, 1994, the constitutional conference was inaugurated and on 27th June, 1995 the Conference submitted its report to the government. The Conference midwife the constitution of 1995. The transition programme was phased over 36months or three years, from October, 1st 1995 to October 1st, 1998. Soon after, the stage became ripe for yet another march to democracy. Constituencies were delineated, political parties floated, and elections were conducted into the national and state legislatures, including Katsina State. However, before the new legislatures were inaugurated, the transition programme was suddenly disrupted by the death of General Abacha. The second phase in the development of Katsina State House of Assembly commenced in 1999.General Abacha’s successor, General A.A. Abubakar, instituted a one year transition programme during which a new onstitution had been drafted. Democratic institutions were put in place and general elections were organized and conducted. Through proportional representation, Members of State Houses of Assembly were elected. On 5th June, 1999, the second legislature of Katsina State was inaugurated for a term of four years. The third and fourth legislatures were composed and summoned in June 2003 and 2007 respectively.
Legislation
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MAJOR LEGISLATIVE INSTRUMENTS/PROCESSES
Generally, the House of Assembly at work is a document centric activity, and different kinds of documents and processes are acted upon and utilized by the Assembly each time it holds its session whether in plenary or at committees. As a general proposition, the life of every major legislative activity starts and ends with one type of document or the other. So far, the two most common documents or instruments of legislative activity are Bill and Motion/Resolution.
BILL (Draft Law)
The most common legislative instrument is a Bill. A Bill is a potential law and it is introduced in the Assembly by the Chief Executive or a Member in order to enact a new law or propose a change to existing law or the repeal of all or part of a n existing law. Before a Bill becomes law, it must be given three readings, voted on and assented to by the Executive.
MOTION/RESOLUTION
The second type of legislative instrument is a motion/resolution, and it is usually an expression of the will of the Assembly and adopted by the House by simple majority of members with quorum there present. Every function of the Assembly that does not require law making is exercised by means of motion/resolution. There is also what is known as legislative processes. These are documents that are circulated to members each day the Assembly holds its session or in advance, as would seem feasible. The purpose of these processes is to provide members with sufficient notice of the day’s business, preserve record, and also meet the needs of the information society as the public are entitled to be adequately informed of the proceedings of the Assembly. Some of these documents are the following.
1. Order Paper: An order paper is the Agenda for the meeting of the House and is prepared and circulated to Members on every legislative day.
2. Votes and proceedings: This is the summarized minutes of the proceedings of the House.
3. Official Report: The Official report also known as Hansard, is the verbatim report of what transpires during every legislative session. It captures and records every word said or spoken, floor interruptions, votes taken, resolution adopted, etc.
COMPONENTS OF THE HOUSE
The sub-division of the Assembly into components or organs allows these components and organs to exercise the multifarious functions of the Assembly. Taken as a whole, the Assembly resembles a water processing planting which the production cycle trends through different stages of desaltation, filtration, treatment and quality control that takes place in the different components before it is made portable and reticulated to the consumer. Similarly, an activity of the Assembly is processed against varied stages of debating, scrutiny, input, reporting, voting/division and adoption or passage which precedes promulgation. Each of these activities takes place in the appropriate component or organ of the Assembly amidst great deal of emotions, partisanship, political maneuvering, and external pressure and so on. However, the quasi division of legislative labor among various components is to create avenue for the injection of a combination of knowledge, experience, expertise and expediency all of which enhance the viability and quality of the end product. These components are: Plenary Chamber & House Committees
PLENARY CHAMBER
Katsina State House of Assembly under the speakership of Hon. Rt Hon. Aliyu Sabiu MUDURU can boast of having one of the best equipped and standardized chambers in the country. The chamber is that area designated in the diagram of the assembly building as the place for holding the daily business of the House. It is different from other venues by its special features in the following ways: Firstly, inside the chamber, seats of members are permanently fixed to the floor and no other chairs are allowed on the floor. Secondly, when the House is in session, only officials of the legislature are admitted on the floor, except on special invitation. Thirdly, prior permission of the Speaker is required for non-officials and government functionaries to be on the floor of the chamber during deliberations. Fourthly, galleries are designated in the chamber to accommodate the public, media and others, subject to space and security assessment. Finally, two lobbies adjoin the chamber. The lobbies are meant for holding divisions and are also meeting place for Members wherein they discuss informal matters.
HOUSE COMMITTEES
The House of Assembly has several ministry related and subject matter committee as will be seen later. The main purpose of committees is to decongest, simplify and expedite the bulky work of the House. In addition, there are distinctive kinds of legislative activities such as oversight and public hearings that can only be efficiently and conveniently dealt with in committees. Committees of the House perform relative functions and what typifies a committee is first, its subject matter of undertaking and second, it's life span. There are House committees that by their existence are special or ad-hoc in which case their tenure is transient. These types of committees undertake a particular task and are disbanded on completing the task. In contrast to special or ad-hoc committees, there are standing committees popularly known as ministry related committees, because they are permanently mandated to oversee government ministries and departments.
Committees & Sub-Commmittees​
​STANDING /SUB-COMMITTEES
The entire work of the legislature mostly revolves around committees. At the moment,The total currently available Committees 29 and 4 sub-Committees which are all listed below;
1- Standing Committees 2- Women Affairs Committee 3- Agriculture Committee
2- Millenium Development Goals(Mdgs)And Community And Social
4-Health Committee 5-Finance Committee 6-Information Committee
7-Anti -Corruption Committee 8-Religious Committee 9- Publication Committee
10- Development Agency Committee 11- Public Accounts Committee
12- Security And Intelligence Committee 13- Education Committee
14- Committee On Multilateral And Donor Agencies 15- House Service Committee
16- Roads Maintenance Agency & Transport Committee
17- Land, Survey & Environment Committee 18- Works & Housing Committee
19- Commerce And Industries Committee 20-Habitat And Emergency Committee
21- Business & Rules CommitteeAppropriation Committee
22- Local Govt.& Chieftaincy Affairs Committee 23- Administration Committee
24-Primary Health Care CommitteeHigher Education CommitteeWater Resources Committee Justice & Judiciary Committee 25- Rural & Social Development Committee.
Click to Submit Motion/ Enquiry/Request to The Speaker...
Functions of The House
PURPOSE AND FUNCTIONS OF HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
Generally, it may be said of the idea for having a House of Assembly, that:
1. House of Assembly as a microsmic institution makes policy process participatory and transparent and it establishes a connection between such policy and the citizens.
2. It underpins the sovereignty of citizens by among other things, making it possible for them to choose their representatives in the policy process, hold them to account and change their mandate at will.
3. Government authority is decentralized and shared among independent arms, and avenue for horizontal over sighting exists.
4. In the context of its purpose and role in a democratic government, a House of Assembly is invested with plenitude of powers and functions. The functions of a House of Assembly are the key tasks which it undertakes and performs in relation to the society in general. In addition, a House of Assembly is conferred with the capacity to do certain things that will aid the unhampered discharge of its functions. By and large, in line with the power bestowed upon it by the 1999 constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria, a House of Assembly interalia, performs the following functions.
A - LAW MAKING
The primary function of a legislative assembly is to make laws and subject to the constrictions imposed by the doctrines of inconsistency and legislative competence; there is no limit on the subject on which a House of Assembly may make laws.Thus, a House of Assembly enacts laws to confer authority or power on organizations or officials, or create an agency, board, commission or other government institution, or to prohibit an activity and impose penalties, etc. Generally, there are three main ways of making laws. These are:
1. Enacting new laws
2. Amending or modifying an existing law, and
3. Repeal of obsolete laws
B - SETTING THE BUDGET
In Nigeria, the system of budgeting whether federal or state is essentially an executive one in the sense that the conception and formulation of the budget lies exclusively with the executive. However, under the constitution, an appropriation bill containing estimates of revenues and expenditure, shall only be approved by the legislature and in the process the legislature may if it deems desirable, may effect amendments and alterations not only to the heads of revenues and expenditure, but the key policies for which the expenditure is meant. Legislatures therefore function as the key that locks and unlocks the government purse.
C - OVERSIGHT FUNCTION
In legislative parlance, oversight refers to the supervisory role of a legislative assembly which enables it to play an active or reactive part in tracking, evaluating and reviewing the performance of government and its agencies. The assembly applies the knowledge it obtains from such exercise to its law making and public policy process. Another purpose of oversight is to expose and address corruption, inefficiency and waste in the execution of or administration of laws and public policies made by the assembly and in the disbursement of funds appropriated by it under an appropriation law. Oversight is predicated on the notion that a representative assembly must be informed in order to properly execute its legislative function. According to Woodrow Wilson: It is the proper duty of a representative body to look diligently into every affair of government and to talk much about what it sees. It is meant to be the eyes and the voice, of and to embody the wisdom and will of its constituents.The usual tools for carrying effective oversight by an assembly are the following
· Conducting investigations/inquiries
· Mandatory report by Ministers/Commissioners
1. Questions/interrogations by Members to Ministers/Commissioners on the flow of the Assembly
2. Conduct of Committee hearings
D- CONFIRMATION OF APPOINTMENTS
Legislative assembly is considerably involved in making certain key appointments, to such extent that such appointments, usually statutory ones, must be approved by it. Indeed, the constitution has vested in the legislature the power to approve executive nomination for the posts of Commissioner, Auditor General, Members of statutory commissions and key judicial officers. This power is a potent weapon at the disposal of the Assembly with which to censor executive action, and therefore a particular form of oversight function.
E - FUNCTION OF REPRESENTATION
The Assembly as a whole is a representative body and therefore, accountable to the electorate. This function extends to rendering assistance and representing the citizens in government in a way that they reap the benefits of democracy. For example it is a moral obligation of a member of the House of Assembly to assist his constituency in obtaining and filling their quota in the civil service, securing a scholarship and admission into educational institutions etc
My Role As The Speaker
The House of Assembly is presided over by the Speaker who is the Chief Executive and political head of the State House of Assembly. He is assisted by other Principal Officers and the Clerk of the House. The Clerk of the House is the Chief Accounting Officer and administrative head in a State Legislature.
The Speaker is nominated and elected from among fellow honourable Members. Having sworn an Oath of Office, he presides over the activities of the House as spelt out in Section 95 (1) of the Constitution. He is responsible for interpreting the rules of the House and keeping orders and decorum in the Chamber and Gallery during debates. As the presiding officer, he ensures that the House rules are obeyed as spelt out in Rule 51 and interprets the Business, Rules and Standing Orders of the House.
The Speaker is elected by a simple majority vote. However, he can be removed by two-thirds majority vote as stipulated in Section (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Nigeria.
Below are the the Structures of both the Katsina State Government and The Katsina House of Assembly.
