A handful of members of the House of Representatives have heaped praises over the media for keeping the 9th National Assembly led by Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila in line to deliver their mandate.
The lawmakers testified to this in the end-of-the-year get-together and award ceremony organized by the House of Representatives Press Corps in Abuja.
Hon. Magaji Da’u Aliyu, who was awarded with the award of the Most Impactful Power Committee Chairman of the House said: “I am proud of the 9th National Assembly. I have been around for some time but the 9th Assembly we think we did a lot of things differently. We worked together. We worked very hard and were able to achieve our set out targets. All these go to the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, for the kind of leadership he has offered to us.
“This 9th Assembly is scandal free and we also wish to commend ourselves for that. I also wish to commend the Press Corps for keeping us on our toes and trying to make us do the correct things because if you know that there are people watching you, that would make you do the right thing. We would continue to work together.”
Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs — Hon. Benjamin Kalu who also received the Most Outstanding Spokesman of the House award lauded the press for being the unsung heroes.
“I appreciate the Press Corps for the stability they have given to the image of the National Assembly. It has not been like this before. Rancour-free, acrimony free.
“There is this integrity in the mind of Nigerians about the NASS. The confidence level has gotten from where it was to where it is at the moment not because of only what we did but also because of how you showcased what we are doing to the Nigerian people. People are beginning to understand that this fulcrum of democracy is actually playing a vital role in the advancement for our democracy.
“We have been believers of participatory democracy where we bring the people to the centre stage and what my committee has done is to increase the level of interaction and engagement between the people and the parliament. We make ourselves available and accessible to journalists.
“We must attend to your call and that has placed us on our toes to be one step ahead. So that we would not fail in your expectation in making sure we are resourceful with the right information that would guide your publications to enable people to understand better, to make Nigerians understand our story from the horse’s mouth.
“These and more other sectoral engagements we have carried out in the country shows that the parliament wants to harvest the opinion of the people so as to formulate our policies and laws in line with the desires of the people, based on the needs analysis gotten from the collective opinion of Nigerians. You have helped us achieve that by making sure you don’t tell the stories the way they are not. You have decided to make sure that at all times what you presented to the public was nothing but the truth and I commend you,” he concluded.
