The Senate took a major step on Wednesday to revamp and rejuvenate the near moribund Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC).
Senator Olugbenga Ashafa, Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transport, submitted the report of his committee on NRC Act 1955 (Repeal and Re-Enactment Bill, 2016).
The Nigeria Railway Corporation 1955, repeal and re-enactment bill, was sponsored by Senator Andy Uba (Anambra South) for consideration and passage into law.
Uba sought through the bill, to draw the attention of the Senate to the need to arrest the dwindling fortunes of the NRC and make the once flourishing corporation vibrant again.
Most senators agreed with him as the bill scaled first reading seamlessly. It was tagged one of the high priority bills that should be given accelerated consideration.
Public hearing on the bill was held on Monday April 25, 2016 to receive inputs from stakeholders’ on the way going forward.
The public hearing focused on suggestions that though the bill was a laudable attempt, it needed to be reviewed technically to fine-tune its essentials in order to incorporate the varying, yet valuable inputs by stakeholders.
The intension was, no doubt, to make the bill well-rounded and a holistic piece of legislation that would address what stakeholders considered the current opaque legal and regulatory framework of the NRC.
The submission of the report, which contained technical evaluation of the rail system in the country and the way forward to the Senate in plenary perhaps marked the beginning of the long overdue process of unbundling the NRC.
Essentially, the bill seeks to reduce government over bearing influence as a sole operator and regulator in the sector.
It is proposing to create three independent agencies that will comprise public and private stakeholders’ platform to perform the functions hitherto carried out solely by the NRC.
The report talks about the creation of the National Railway Authority, the Independent Railway Regulatory Commission and the Railway Operators’ Scheme as independent bodies.
It also talks about the need to promote public, private and partnership schemes as well as to encourage state and local government participation in railway development.
The report recommended that board members should be kept to a minimal.
Entitled, “Review of the Nigerian Railway Corporation Repeal and Re-Enactment Bill,” the proposed legislation restricts the Ministry of Transportation to policy making, while the National Railway Authority is to manage the infrastructure, pending the establishment of National Transport Commission.
The Railway Regulator, the bill says, would be charged with the functions of economic and safety regulation of the sector while the Private Sector Railway Operators would have the primary function of providing railway services through concessions.
To achieve the objectives, the Senate Committee on Land Transport, composed a technical committee made up of engineers in the private sector to review the existing NRC Act and come up with modalities that would enhance efficiency in the sector.
The 14-member technical committee, chaired by Mr. Chris Okoye, first submitted its report to the Senate leadership.
Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who received the report from Senator Ashafa, believed that the reform of the country’s railways sector is important to the much needed economic revival of the country.
Apparently to underscore the importance of the report, Saraki reiterated the commitment of the 8th Senate towards the passage of the National Railways Commission Bill before the end of the first session of the 8th Senate.
Ashafa on his part explained that the Senate, after its public hearing on the NRC Bill, gathered memoranda and reports which necessitated the commissioning of a technical committee to make inputs into the repeal and re-enactment bill.
The sensitive and technical nature of the country’s railway system, he said, should always be considered.
Okoye described the bill as a defining moment in the country’s railways history.
While Nigerians may be waiting for how the all important bill will finally be molded in the Senate to transform the Nigeria Railway Corporation to play the pivotal role in the revitalization of the country’s economy, it may be important to caution that some legislations sound beautiful on paper but their practicability becomes another ball game.
It may be difficult to decode at this point in time how far the Senate can go in its determination to turn the fortunes of the Nigeria Railway Corporation around.
What is certain however is that a change of approach is urgently needed to put new life into the corporation.
How well the bill turns out will signal the beginning of its implementability.
Return of e-parliament
The plan by the House of Representatives to reintroduce electronic voting in the conduct of the affairs of the House is a welcome development.
Electronic voting has been used in both chambers of the National Assembly in the past surreptitiously abandoned.
The Senate and House of Representative specifically adopted electronic voting system during the amendment of the 1999 Constitution. It was thereafter discarded in the two chambers without explanation.
While some observers stated it was abandoned in order for the lawmakers to hide their voting pattern on some sensitive issues; others believed that dumping the system may have been informed by the need to protect non performing members of the two chambers.
It was therefore reassuring when Speaker Yakubu Dogara announced few days ago that electronic voting system in the conduct of activities of the House of Representatives would soon be the order of the day.
The plan to adopt e-voting system, Dogara said, is in compliance with the Legislative Agenda of the 8th House of Representatives.
To give effect to the plan, forms are stated to have been distributed to members to collate their data ahead of production of e-voting cards to all the 360 members.
The Speaker was also quoted to have stated that “the implication of the new system is that records of each member’s punctuality and voting patterns can easily be accessed by his/her constituents and members of the public.”
“E-voting will be used regularly during voting to properly reflect voting records of members and parliamentary accountability. The House shall collaborate with relevant stakeholders to achieve the goal of an e-parliament.”
What is more, Dogara explained that other initiatives that will be introduced include the establishment and equipping of a Parliamentary Information Centre where information and documents of the National Assembly will be made available.
No doubt, the introduction of e-voting and e- parliament will further increase citizens’ access to the legislature and solve the problem of public access to authentic documents of parliament.
With the laudable initiative coming from the House, it is not certain whether the Senate would embrace the same e-voting methodology.
Although the upper chamber also hinted of the need to computerize it activities in its Legislative Agenda, not much has been done in that direction.
The benefits of digitalization and internet based parliamentary activities cannot be overemphasized.
For one, digitalization of the functions of members of the National Assembly would go a long way to make it easier to determine the performance of each and every member of the parliament.
The Senate may do well to quickly toe the line of the House on e-voting.
.....The Nation