Open NASS, Key to Accountability In Governance

By Bashir Mohammed. Kano

Programme Officer, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Hajiya Harira Abdulrahaman Wakili, has described open National Assembly as a veritable key to entrenching probity, accountability and transparency in democratic governance.
Speaking at a one day sensitisation forum organised for students held at the CITAD conference hall in Kano yesterday, Wakili said the objective of organising the forum was to keep them posted on the responsibility bestowed on the shoulders of legislators having been part of an indispensable organ of government.
According to her, it was the constitutional right for every citizen to be kept informed on the workings of the legislature in a democratic dispensation pointing out that the issue of absolute accountability is paramount for genuine democratic system in the country.
She said, “You are constitutionally bound to enquire what is happening at the National Assembly. Ask your legislator to furnish you with credible information about his stewardship. What is important is accountability.
“In a situation where your legislator fails to live up to expectation, inform CITAD and we are definitely going to take measures to put him or her on the right track. We are in a democratic era and no one should be kept in the dark as students, this is your right and auspicious time to buckle-up,” she added.
While expressing CITAD’s unalloyed commitment to sustaining the sensitisation forum from time to time, the programme assistant maintained that without a vibrant and cohesive National Assembly, reaping the dividends of democracy would only remain a far cry.