ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE MACE IN PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS AS SYMBOL OF AUTHORITY OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, ABUJA: 2015 – 2020
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- 1-5 Chapters
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- NGN 3000
Background to the Study
The Mace is believed and admitted to be the symbol of authority of the National Assembly and in other parts of the world as well. It plays a significant role in the parliamentary chamber. This is because in the absence of the Mace there would be no practice in the parliament. The Mace is as important as the legislators. When the legislators are in the chamber ready for the day’s activities, the first thing they look up for is the presiding officer and the Mace. If there is no Mace, there will be no formal sitting. In the proper parliamentary practices and proceedings, the Mace always precedes the presiding officer, in this case the Senate President or the speaker, House of Representatives or their delegates.
Mayowa (2020) and Nnamani (2005) argued that the National Assembly has three (3) broad main functions of law making, oversight of the executive and representations of the electorates. All these functions can only be effectively executed when the Mace is present in the chamber and through the process of parliamentary practices and proceedings.
We live in a democratic world, a system of government where the parliament is a necessity. The parliament relies on the Mace for proper functioning. Those who understand the importance of the Mace know that the Mace opens doors for productive economic growth. This is due to the fact that Economic issues are being discussed at the chamber of the parliament and in the process doors for economic development were been opened. Also, the legislature do discuss appropriation bills on economic issues such as road, air, manufacturing industries where economic activities take place. A lack of the understanding of the significance of the Mace closes these doors of economic growth and productiveness.
Parliamentarians have different abilities, needs and interest, yet, everyone needs to be able to understand the power and beauty of the Mace in this democratic world. All parliamentarians need to learn a set of rules in using the Mace that would enable them to solve national issues and make laws creatively and resourcefully. The National Assembly needed to give proper and effective protection to the Mace in order that it should not be taken away by aggrieved politicians. If the protection of the Mace was made promptly and the parliamentarians were properly protected by the Sergeant-At-Arms, the legislators would work in an environment that was safe (free from danger or the risk of harm) and without molestation from thugs. Nowadays, the Mace is the key to successful deliberation in the parliamentary chamber. This is because without the Mace parliamentary discussion could not be successfully discussed.
The need for a general commitment and standard that is attached on the conduct of legislative activities need not be overemphasized considering the fact that the legislature has the sole responsibility of law making and also amend the constitution. Legislative activities as specified in section 4 (2) of the 1999 constitution as amended stated that, “The National Assembly shall have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the federation”. The power to make laws is one of the major responsibilities of the legislature. The legislature is the main pillar of democracy in a democratic system of government. It is the National Assembly that lays down the basic principles of law making. When these laws are made, the judiciary interprets the laws and uses it as the framework to bring a case to conclusion. Whereas the executive applies the laws in the implementation of policies of government using the laws made by the Legislature. The 1999 constitution as amended expressly provides that the law-making powers of the National Assembly shall be exercised by bills passed, and assented to by the president. Also, the 1999 constitution as amended empowers the National Assembly to alter any part of the constitution. In this case, it requires the support of all the State Houses of Assembly in the Federation. As a result of this, in a democratic system of government, the legislature is considered higher over the other two arms of government (executive and judiciary) because of their representative willed of the people. In other words, it is only the legislature that is qualified to express the will of the people whom they represent in form of legislation. It is not enough to enjoy these powers without corresponding roles of ensuring that the law-making process of the legislature is credible and addresses what the society needs. Although, the legislature is not directly responsible for the implementation of the laws and policies they make, but they play a vital role of approving government spending and also oversight of the executive. With the Mace in the chamber, the National Assembly can also adopt the doctrine of necessity as it was done in 2010 to solve some political and constitutional crisis that came up following the demise of the then late President Musa Yar’Adua.
The significance of the Mace in parliamentary proceedings are so numerous and a few of them are stated below. Kenyan Parliament Website (2018) argued that the Mace
represented the authority of the presiding officer. The Mace is jealously guarded and serving as a symbol of authority of the legislative arm of government performing its duties of amending the law and making the law. The presiding officers use the Mace as their official authority. The Mace-bearer carries the Mace on his/her right shoulder and precedes the presiding officer into the chamber and lays it on the upper bracket for parliamentary proceedings to commence. He also carries it during the rise of the senate.
Kenyan Parliament Website (2018) opined that the Sergeant-At-Arms performs ceremonial duties by carrying the Mace to and from the House during ordinary and special sitting. The Mace serves as beauty of democracy during the ceremonial procession. Whenever there is a sitting of the parliament, there is always a procession of the presiding officer and the members before the commencement of each sitting day. The purpose of the procession is to escort the presiding officer to the chamber and to his/her seat. The presiding officer is preceded by the mace bearer carrying the Mace. This procession using the Mace makes democracy attractive, beautiful, pleasant and fine as you see orderliness in parliament. Kenyan Parliament Website (2018) continued that the Sergeant-At-Arms coordinates the transition of the business of the senate from plenary to committee of the whole by lowering the Mace from the table to the lower bracket or hoisting it into place on resumption of plenary. Successive parliamentarians have been using the Mace during parliamentary proceedings since the return to democracy in Nigeria in 1999, but have they felt the impact and effectiveness of the Mace?
It is against this backdrop that the study assessed the effectiveness of the Mace in parliamentary proceedings as a symbol of authority of the National Assembly.
Statement of the Problem
Despite the explanations about the rules and regulations guiding the use of the Mace and the importance of the Mace in parliamentary proceedings, that the parliament cannot sit to discuss any legal business if the Mace is not there and that the Mace is the “Power and Authority” of the presiding officer and the legislators in the chamber. Some parliamentarians today do not adhere to these. The teachings about parliamentary convention, ethics and privileges which recommended that the Mace must always be in the chamber in order for bills to be enacted into laws. Some of them think that the Mace can be snatched at any given time to disrupt parliamentary proceedings or to remove the presiding officer is undemocratic, unethical and unconstitutional. The Guidance Newspaper of 25th April 2018 and Sahara Reporters (2018) reported that the Nigerian’s National Assembly Mace was stolen in the first Republic in 1962. The Punch Newspaper of 20th April, 2018 reported that the National Assembly Mace was again stolen in 2018. The Mace was stolen by aggrieved legislators who felt that the best way to go about their grievances was to take away the Mace. If they understand the logic behind the Mace as it were, they would not tamper with it. Those who have positive attitude towards democracy cannot in any way organize thugs to invade the National Assembly for the Mace. The legislature performs better on the floor of the chamber in the presence of the Mace. However, Mace snatching is known to be a serious challenge in a democratic system of government like Nigeria. This is due to the fact that corrupt politicians utilized any opportunity at their disposal to disrupt legislative proceedings by stealing the Mace. They do this by themselves or by hiring thugs to forcefully remove the Mace during parliamentary proceedings. By so doing, the corrupt legislator(s) distort(s) parliamentary businesses and preventing the people’s will from being properly expressed through law making and violet the spirit of democracy. Thus, Mace snatching is a carefully thought out in advance by an individual or it could be by a group of people to secure power through what is prohibited by accepted rules of parliament for private gain at public expenses.
The study assessed the effectiveness of the Mace in the Nigerian’s National Assembly chamber. The responsibilities of the legislature, which are law making, oversight and representation can only be achieved or attained through parliamentary proceedings in the presence of the Mace. In the absence of the Mace bills cannot be enacted into laws. There are various allegations of Mace snatching against the legislators in spite of their expected public trust of law-making. To combat this menace that has eaten deep in the fabric of some Nigerian political classes, the Management of the National Assembly has involved the assistant of the army, the Police, the Civil Defence, the State Security Service, and the Sergeant-At-Arms to give protection to the Mace and the legislators, but Mace snatching has been a recurrent theme in the National Assembly and some Houses of Assembly. Measures must be taken to stop it.
There were several cases where the legislators themselves have been involved in Mace snatching which led to preventing parliamentary proceedings in the chamber in the guise of removing the presiding officer. Mace snatching was a serious problem within the National Assembly. There is therefore, the need to critically assess the effectiveness of the Mace in parliamentary proceedings in the Nigerian National Assembly.
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