In concrete terms, the National Assembly is supposed to be the bastion of the nation’s democracy or what political pundits refer to as the engine of the constitutional system of government.

Nigeria operates a Bi-cameral legislature; made up of two Independent Chambers; the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Of course, initially the excuse was that Nigeria was still a nascent democracy. The Nigerian Parliament right from inception had robust and historic developments which date back to the colonial and post-colonial independence but from whichever angle one looks at it, the 4th Republic has a huge legislative responsibility to perform its role as the foremost representatives of the Nigerian people by conscientiously performing its oversight functions and carrying out its core mandate.

Not only that, the lawmakers must not operate as if they are rubber stamps to the  executive. By and large, the Senate as the upper chamber of Nigeria’s bicameral legislature is the nation’s legislature and has the power to make laws, as summarized in chapter one, section four of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended.

The Senate, referred to as the Red Chamber, is made up of 109 Senators representing three Senatorial Districts of each of the 36 states of the federation. Membership of the Chamber is based on equal representation. It is led by the Senate President and his Deputy (President of the Senate and Deputy President of the Senate) as well as principal officers namely Senate Leader and his Deputy, Minority Leader and his Deputy, Chief Whip and his Deputy as well as Minority Whip and his Deputy.

While the House of Representatives also known as the Green Chamber is made up of 360 Federal Representatives. Each member represents one Federal Constituency of Nigeria. The number of Constituencies per State varies since population strength is the criteria used to determine the number of each State’s Federal Constituencies.

The Green Chamber is led by the Speaker and assisted by the Deputy Speaker along with eight Principal Officers that include Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Chief Whip, Deputy Chief Whip, Minority Whip and Deputy Minority Whip.

The National Assembly is constitutionally vested with several functions. Prominent among them are lawmaking, representation, oversight and a host of others. Accordingly, the apex parliament operates the committee system. Both chambers of the nation’s highest law-making body appoint members into its Special and Standing Committees. The committees have the role of studying and researching Bills, Motions and other Legislative proposals referred to it and report its findings to the Whole Chamber.

Essentially, the major function of the Parliament, apart from its oversight functions, is to ensure that there are checks and balances within the executive and judiciary arms of government. Which is why the parliamentarian is expected to conduct himself or herself with the highest decorum, responsibility and integrity, but unfortunately the 10th Senate under the presidency Godswill Akpabio is shrouded in controversies, mudslinging, unnecessary bickering and wranglings an unfortunate development which has painted the red chamber in bad light and by extension the entire National Assembly.

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central in the Senate would readily come to mind for explicit sexual harassment allegations against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

Akpoti-Uduaghan before her suspension from the Senate told the world how Senator Akpobio allegedly made inappropriate and suggestive remarks and gestures towards her in the presence of other senators and her husband.

The Nigerian Senate, apparently not wanting to be distracted or bogged down by the tantrums, has since shrugged off the heat generated by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six months suspension from the Senate and her far- reaching accusations against Senator Akpabio, with a vote of confidence. But the crisis in the Senate persists, the latest being the move by some so called concerned Kogi citizens and women groups to recall Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.

However, her suspension has raised legal debates within Nigeria’s political establishment. With past judicial rulings against prolonged suspensions, her case raises important questions about the limits of the Senate’s disciplinary powers, the protection of lawmakers’ rights, and the broader implications for democratic governance.

Apart from suspending Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months, the upper chamber also withdrew her security aides, locked her Senate office, suspended her salary and allowances, and banned her from entering the National Assembly premises. Critics questioned whether her punishment was merely a disciplinary action or a politically motivated attempt to silence her.

DAILY ASSET is of the opinion that the unending crisis in the Senate about sexual harassment and bribery allegations – following the declaration of state of emergency in Rivers state – are enough distractions to prevent the lawmakers from performing their duties, a setback which is not good for the nation’s fledgling democracy. It is high time the Senate took its mandate of truly representing the electorate more seriously.

It is extremely troubling that despite the many efforts put in place by both the federal and state governments to give some succour to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the country, the situation in their camps has remained very pathetic and precarious.

The number of IDPs in North Central States are: Benue 183,201, Kogi 16,043, Kwara 5,338, Nasarawa 11,051, Niger State 17,054 and Plateau State 133,302.

In the North-East States are: Adamawa 138,385, Bauchi 53,081, Borno 1,444,971, Gombe 21,087, Taraba 49,232 and Yobe 143,974.

In the North-West States are: Jigawa 15,414, Kaduna 214,272, Kano 15,414, Katsina 43,969, Kebbi 3,340, Sokoto 12,672 and Zamfara 125,506.

The figures are from the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) reports published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Nigeria that monitors displacement and population mobility in March 2024, and the numbers might have increased since then.

In most states, herdsmen attacks on farmers, banditry and terrorists killings trigger the displacement of indigenes, a reality that seems to be overstretching the security agencies but which must be tackled frontally.

The questions to ask are: Why has it been impossible for the security agencies to keep these bandits terrorizing innocent citizens in their communities at bay?  Why are the steps being taken from time to time to end the crisis not yielding positive results?

In a move to change the pitiable situation of IDPs, the Borno state government on 25, February 2024 began the closure of all informal camps for IDPs in Maiduguri and its environs with a plan to close all the camps in due course. At a ceremony during the official closure of the Kawar Maila camp in Maiduguri Governor Babagana Zulum said it had become necessary to close all camps and return thousands of people displaced by the conflict in north-east Nigeria to their ancestral homes to reduce their dependency on government and non-governmental organisations. Thus the state has closed most of the official camps in Maiduguri and its environs.

Following the closure of the camps, the governor relocated some people from the Kawar Maila camp to the newly constructed 500 housing estate in Dalori town in Konduga Local Government Area. The new estate is equipped with a hospital, school and irrigation facilities to re-engage the returnees.

The Borno state government, with assistance from international development partners has been supporting the return of more IDPs from various camps in the state to their respective homes.

This Borno initiative is helping to decongest overcrowded settlements that have degraded the quality of lives in the camps.

The federal government should move swiftly to assist the states to resettle IDPs back to their ancestral homes.  Recall that in 2018, the then Vice President Yemi Osinbajo pledged that the federal government would spend 10 billion Naira to rebuild houses for people displaced by herdsmen in Benue State. The pledge was made during his visit to the IDPs camp at Abagena, near Makurdi, in Benue state. He said the funds were approved to rebuild destroyed areas in Benue and other states affected by the crisis. It is not known how much of these funds have so far been released and utilized for the intended purpose.

DAILY ASSET is of the view that since IDPs are no doubt experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis in the country, federal and state governments should step up their strategies to give the victims a sense of belonging. Additionally, it is very crucial for global actors, policy makers and humanitarian organizations to collaborate and ensure the protection and provision of the needs of IDPs. This demands a comprehensive and multifaceted approach that should address the root causes of the crisis and bring an end to IDPs in the country.

It is alarmingly worrisome that between 2020 and now there were over 80 reported petrol tanker explosions, resulting in the loss of over 500 lives with many injuries and millions of property destroyed.