A two day capacity building workshop for councillors of Ika South local government legislative arm has opened in Abraka, with a call on the participants to avail themselves the opportunity to broaden their knowledge in the business of lawmaking.
Sponsored by the Majority Whip and Member Representing Ika South Constituency in the Delta State House of Assembly, Honorable Festus Chukwuyem Okoh, the workshop is to enhance the capacity of the newly elected councillors as they face the task ahead of them as lawmakers.
To achieve the desired objectives for the workshop, ten topics considered very relevant for an effective, efficient and results-oriented legislature in the third tier of government, have been selected for critical examination, discuss, analysis and all other forms of academic distilling.
The topics include, Structure and Administration of the Legislature; Supremacy of the Constitution and the Doctrine of Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances; Overview of Legislative Practice and Procedures; the Committee System in the Legislature; Legislative Ethics, Code and Conduct for Councillors of the Legislative House and Introduction to Legislative Drafting Principles and Practice.
Others include, the Practice and Procedures for Passage of Bills (bylaws); the Role of Legislative Oversight for Effective and Efficient Performance; an Overview of Budget Management and Result Based Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.
The Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori in a keynote address while declaring the workshop open, said it was gratifying for Hon Okoh, whom he described as
hardworking, resourceful, reliable and loyal to have put together the capacity building workshop for the Councillors in his constituency.
Saying that the development was the first of it kind in the state, the Speaker attributed the record making event to the high drive for competence and quality by the Ika South Representative in the state legislature.
He enjoined the Councillors that as law makers at the local government level, the task ahead of them was enormous as their constituents rely on them for effective representation at the Council.
“ In order for you to appreciate the weight of your mandate, this workshop is not only timely but also very important.This is because, legislative practice and procedures are usually very complex and technical in nature”, Oborevwori stated.
Continuing “ This workshop will not only expose you to the complexities of lawmaking but also deepen your understanding of the tenets of democracy. Against this background, you should consider yourselves lucky for being part of this program. I have been briefed that most of the resource persons are from the Assembly. I have no doubt in their abilities to deliver on the assignment” the Speaker stressed.
The Majority Whip and Member Representing Ika South Constituency in the Delta State House of Assembly, Honorable Festus Chukwuyem Okoh, said local government is the fulcrum of development of the grassroots, hence the need to equip the elected representatives of the various wards with the requisite knowledge to drive the desired dividends of democracy to the people.
Hon Okoh explained that building corps of skilled, focused and resourceful councilors at the grassroots is a sure and realistic way to promoting and creating a sustainable democracy that would bring enduring development strides and socio-economic revival for the people through the passage of bylaws that affect the wellbeing of constituents.
The Lawmaker charged the Councilors to see the workshop as great opportunity to have a firm grip of the tools, rudiments, procedures and practice of the legislature, the process by which a bill can become a bylaw.
The Director, Legislative, Delta State House of Assembly who is the lead facilitator of the workshop, Mr Silvester Olorogun encouraged the participants to take the workshop seriously as they would be sufficiently equipped to exercise their constitutional duties at the end of the program.
The Councillors, twenty in number is led by the Leader of the House, Hon Solomon Igudia.