By Muhammad Ibrahim, Sokoto
Despite its recognition by the Nigerian Constitution as the first arm of government in the triad arrangement, the legislative arm has been the least recognized and developed over the years.
According to the special adviser on media and publicity to the governor,Muhammad Bello, Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal made the observation Thursday when he received the leadership of the Nigerian Youths Parliament (NYP) who paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Sokoto.
According to Tambuwal, the legislative arm of government is also the most misunderstood arm, adding that it is the only one that has been a casualty whenever the military takes over reigns of government.
”In any government, civilian or military you will find executive and judicial arm of government, but under the military regime, you don’t have parliament, that is why it is misunderstood and undeveloped out of the three arms of government in Nigeria,” he added.
He commended the NYP and the United Nations (UN) for coming up with the initiative to make the youths understand and appreciate the legislative business, its rudiments and workings.
He appreciated the group’s effort to undertake oversight functions in the state, saying that it would help them in advancing their knowledge on the workings of governance as well as help them to know the duties of both the legislative and executive arms of government.
He advised them to use the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) as
yardsticks to measure its performance. “You should use what the state government is getting from IGR and FAAC monthly as variables to asses its performance,” he added.
The governor told the group that his administration has done a lot in the area of youths empowerment and appointed many youths into its government, assuring that the state government is poised to do more.
Earlier in his address, the Speaker of the NYP, Rt. Hon. Mubarak Mijinyawa said they were in the state for an oversight function and also to condole the governor over the demise of the former Minister of Youths Development, late Inuwa Abdulkadir.
According to him, they had gone around and seen lots of developmental projects being executed by the government.
He commended the governor for sponsoring many youths in the state to study within and outside the country as well as offering them empowerment programmes.
