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By Nefishetu Yakubu
Director-General of National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, has urged Nasarawa State House of Assembly to strengthen legislative administration.
Sulaiman made the call on Tuesday in Abuja while declaring open a capacity-building programme for the chairman and members of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly Service Commission and Clerks-at-Table.
He said that the effectiveness of the legislature depended not only on elected legislators but also on the professionalism and institutional memory of parliamentary administration staff.
The director-general commended the Nasarawa State Government for its sustained investment in workforce development, describing capacity building as a strategic investment in effective governance.
He said that NILDS had delivered at least four capacity-building programmes for different categories of the state’s workforce within 2026, describing the engagement as evidence of sustained institutional partnership.
According to him, a state house of assembly is not merely a chamber for debating and passing laws, but an institution for representation, oversight and accountability.
Sulaiman described parliamentary administrators as custodians of procedure, institutional records, legislative processes and administrative continuity, stressing that professionalism was essential to sustaining legislative institutions.
He said modern parliamentary administrators must go beyond routine office management to become strategic institutional managers, guardians of procedure and custodians of parliamentary memory.
The director-general further stated that clear and consistently applied procedures would make parliamentary business more predictable, transparent and effective, while weak procedures could create uncertainty, conflict and inefficiency.
He also highlighted the importance of the state house of assembly service commission in building a competent, ethical and professional legislative workforce.
He said financial autonomy should be understood within the broader context of institutional independence and accountability, stressing that autonomy must not become a licence for financial indiscipline.
“Greater autonomy should produce greater responsibility, transparency, prudent resource management and stronger institutional performance,” he said.
Sulaiman urged the commission’s leadership to use the workshop to strengthen systems, improve human-resource management and institutionalise merit and competence.
He said that institutions would become stronger when the people working within them become stronger, adding that the philosophy underpinned NILDS’ mandate to strengthen legislative and democratic institutions.
He encouraged participants to interrogate existing practices and develop strategies for making the house of assembly more efficient, responsive and procedurally sound.
The director-general also urged participants to translate knowledge gained from the programme into policies, systems, standard operating procedures and measurable institutional improvements.
“The true value of training is realised when knowledge becomes practice, practice becomes institutional culture and institutional culture ultimately produces better governance,” he said.
He reaffirmed the institute’s commitment to working with Nasarawa State and other sub-national institutions to deepen legislative capacity and strengthen democratic governance.
Representative of the Chairman of House of Assembly Service Commission, Yusufu Ibrahim, thanked NILDS for organising the training, describing the sessions as informative, educative and beneficial.
Ibrahim said the first two lectures had provided participants with valuable knowledge that would enhance their understanding and improve legislative administration and institutional effectiveness.
He invited NILDS to Nasarawa State for more robust knowledge-sharing engagements, stating that continuous collaboration would strengthen the capacity of legislative administrators and improve service delivery.
Also speaking, the Deputy Clerk, Okugya Paul, thanked the NILDS director-general for organising the training and pledged to put the knowledge gained into practice.
Paul said the programme had exposed participants to new ideas and practical knowledge that would improve their effectiveness in legislative administration and parliamentary duties.
“We thought we knew everything until we got here and discovered that we haven’t started. I want to thank the Speaker of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly for approving this training programme for us all,” Paul said.(NAN)
NY/WAS
Edited by ‘Wale Sadeeq
English (US) ·