A parliamentary survey index aimed at measuring the performance and contributions of Nigeria’s federal lawmakers over one year has revealed a steady decline in the quality of debates in both chambers of the National Assembly.

The report titled National Assembly Deliberative Barometer and Policy Focus Report, by ERUDITE GROWTH & ADVANCEMENT FOUNDATION, ERGAF-AFRICA, was unveiled today in Abuja.

The report discloses that four senators and 48 members of the House of Representatives did not make any contributions to debates, sponsor any bills, petitions or even raise a single Point of Order.

It said that Lagos lawmaker, Senator Idiat Oluranti tops the list of female productivity index with 22 legislative actions, followed by FCT senator, Ireti Kingibe and then Senator Ipalibo Banigo.

The report emphasised however that the issues of economy and Nigeria’s security challenges dominated discussions at plenary in both chambers in the period under review.ERGAF -Africa has spent the last two years compiling the report.

It calls it “The National Assembly Deliberative Barometer and Policy Focus Productivity Report”

It’s the first attempt to put in digital data form and infographic format the contributions of lawmakers in Africa.

The maiden edition covers the first session of the 10th National Assembly of Nigeria between June 14 2013, a day after it was inaugurated and 13th June 2024, revealing what the promoters describe as “a steady decline in legislative debates.

The report also reveals that while a total of 2275 legislative actions were carried out at plenary in the Senate; 4174 were conducted in the House of Representatives.

Out of these the report by ERGAF-AFRICA shows that 4 senators recorded zero contributions, during the period they served before some of them were sacked by the courts.

In the House of Representatives, 48 members did not make any contributions.

The report also highlights the top 10 performers in the Senate and 20 in the House of Representatives except for both presiding officers.

Issues of national interest dominated deliberations in both chambers especially, Nigeria’s wobbling economy and protracted security challenges.

The National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies welcomes the survey but not without a few reservations that it must be situated within the context of plenary sessions.

The report also reveals that while a total of 2275 legislative actions were carried out at plenary in the Senate; 4174 were conducted in the House of Representatives.

A member of the House of Representatives, Hart Cyril who represented the Speaker identifies similar limitations in the report even when he agrees it offers a potent platform to track legislative performances.

“Bring Back Our Goodluck” North-East group planned to stage a one-million-man march to the former president Goodluck Jonathan’s country home in Bayelsa to prevail on him to contest the 2027 presidential election after their tour of the whole regions in Nigeria.

The National Chairman of the group, Grema Kyari stated this in Maiduguri when hundreds of youths gathered to strategise on the return of Goodluck Jonathan to presidential villa in 2027.

The group tendered an unreserved apology to former President Goodluck Jonathan over what they described as a damaging narrative of sponsoring Boko Haram terrorists used in removing him from office in 2015.

They said that they now believed that the former President was removed from office in 2015 as a result of “regime change” orchestrated by foreign powers, especially the Democrats-Obama/Biden US administration of 2014 in connivance with some desperate politicians in Nigeria.

“We are gathered here today at a time when our beloved country stands at a decisive crossroads.

The Nigeria of today is struggling under the weight of economic hardship, rising insecurity, and deepening divisions.

Citizens are losing trust in the very institutions meant to protect and serve them.

“I come before you not only as the National Chairman of ‘Bring Back Our Goodluck’ but as a witness to history and as a Nigerian who, like millions of others, was once misled. I am from Borno State, one of the epicenters of the Boko Haram insurgency.

“During the presidency of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, a damaging narrative was widely spread in our communities that he sponsored Boko Haram and used the military to suppress us.

These lies thrived in an environment of limited restricted access to truth. But today, with broader exposure and clear understanding, I know those accusations were false.”

Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday urged the Party faithful, supporters and all Nigerians to disregard the report labelling the party as a terrorist organisation by the Canadian Immigration Appeal Division [IAD), saying its false and misleading.

Morka, in a statement on Friday, stated categorically that the Canadian court did not declare APC as a terrorist organisation, contrary to highly erroneous media reports in circulation.

He clarified:

“As reported, the declaration was allegedly made in the case of Douglas Egharevba and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, in which the Applicant (Douglas Egharevba) sought judicial review of a decision by ] which determined that the Applicant was inadmissible in Canada under its Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

In a decision in the matter dated June 17, 2025, Judge Phuong T.V. Ngo dismissed the application for judicial review on the ground that the Applicant was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and that the PDP was an organization engaged in acts of subversion under paragraph 34(1)(b.1) of the IRPA making him inadmissible in Canada.

In his analysis, the Judge stated, “As such, applying the reasonableness standard of review, I cannot find the IAD’s conclusion that the Elections in question constituted a democratic process or institution and that the PDP, its members and supporters engaged in subversive acts committed against the electoral process for the improper purpose of maintaining political power to be unreasonable.”

To be clear, the only reference to APC in the entire 16-paged decision was in the introductory “Background”, Paragraph 4, where the court referenced a “Background Declaration Form in which the Applicant stated that “he was a member of the People’s Democratic Party [PDP] of Nigeria from December 1999 until December 2007, and a member of All Progressives Congress [APC] party of Nigeria from December 2007 until May 2017.”

For the record, APC was not in existence as of 2007.

The Party was registered in 2013. The Applicant’s claim of membership of APC as of 2007 is evidently false, as he could not have been a member of APC, which didn’t exist then.

For the avoidance of doubt, we dare to state that the court never made any determination on the question of terrorism in its decision. In the Judge’s own words:

“Having found that the IAD’s analysis on subversion was reasonable, this is sufficient to dismiss the application for review. I will therefore refrain from analysing the IAD’s findings on terrorism.”

Clearly, reports that the APC was declared a terrorist organisation by the Canadian court in this matter are patently erroneous, if not mischievous.

The court did not make such a declaration, and could not have done so, as that would be an unjustifiable overreach and a major breach of fair hearing, among other due process rights, given that APC was not a party to the proceedings.

Such a decision would also have been of absolute irrelevance as being made without jurisdiction, and of no extraterritorial applicability or significance. “