In line with the vision of the leadership of the 10th National Assembly to strengthen the professional workforce at all levels of administration, Prof. Abubakar O.Sulaiman, DG NILDS, has stressed the need to scale up the level of expertise and professionalism in the legislative system to conform to international best practices.

The former Minister of National Planning made this known at the end of a 3-day training workshop on the committee management system in the legislature for clerks and support staff of the state houses of assembly in Nigeria.

“We need to upscale the level of expertise and professionalism in the legislative system to conform to international best practices.  This is because legislators depend on Committees to conduct their legislative business, as such, Committee Clerks are considered to form the engine room of the legislature.

‘As Committee Clerks, your responsibilities transcend beyond administering the affairs of your respective Committees, to being an integral part of the legislative process because you significantly assist in the formulation of policies and also help in carrying out investigations on matters and issues referred to your Committees.

“You must not take this for granted because the success of the Assembly is directly proportional to your effective functioning and the performance of the Committees you serve’ he said.

The DG emphasized that the training workshop is based on the needs assessment of the legislators and its pool of workforce in order to specially  enhance  the capacity needed in the  legislative system.