By Abimbola Akosile
The Benue State House of Assembly, alongside other States, has been told to immediately imbibe the culture of ICT for its obvious advantages to good governance.

Also, members of the legislature have been told to be bold and insist on good governance as their constitutional rights, so that in the long run society will be better for it and posterity will judge them faithfully.

The calls were part of the outcomes of an interactive session between legislators of Benue State Assembly and civil society groups in the state, organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), with support from the Heinrich Boll Foundation, Lagos, which took place recently in Makurdi, Benue State.

The outcomes were contained in a communiqué signed by Rafsanjani, Executive Director of CISLAC, and the Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Terseer Tsumba.

In an address, Rafsanjani, represented by the Senior Programme officer, Boniface Kassam, welcomed all legislators and CSOs for making out time to attend. He said the main purpose of the session is to widen the democratic process and to increase the mass participation of citizens at all levels of governance in the country.

In a keynote address, the Speaker of Benue House of Assembly stated that the contributions of CSOs and NGOs to the attainment of Nigeria democracy were enormous.

He said although there have been agitation for further access to the legislature by CSOs, Benue State House of Assembly was open and would avail itself to public participation and scrutiny. He declared that they were ready to work with civil society groups.

Three papers were delivered in the interactive: 'The Making of a Functional and Effective Legislature' by Rima Shawulu; 'E-Governance as Oversight Tool for both Legislators and Civil Society Organisations' by Wabuji Ketas Dore and Y. Z. Yau, and 'Developmental Lawmaking, Effective Oversight and Good Governance' by Hon. Idris Yahuza Yakubu.

34 participants attended the interactive session, drawn from the Benue State House of Assembly, Civil society groups in the state, as well as selected media practitioners.

Participants observed that Benue state has no State Assembly commission to be in charge of recruitment and payment of legislative aides, and that salaries of legislative aides are paid by the State Civil Service Commission.

To them, the use of ICT in the legislature is minimal, "just as ICT has not employed in the legislator, civil service and constituency relations. Even though the use of ICT is still minimal, the use can only increase because of its cost effectiveness, efficiency and global reach".

Participants also recommended that Benue State Government should take urgent steps to establish the Benue State House of Assembly Service Commission, to be in charge of recruitment discipline and promotion of assembly staff and guarantee separation of powers.

"The entire world is now ICT driven, Benue state cannot afford to be left behind, and inspite of obvious challenges, the process should be put in place to commence ICT both governance and private lives of the people of the state, as well as government /CSOs relations. This also will promote e-Governance and its attendant advantages", they admonished.

According to them, for effective legislator/CSOs relations, a CSOs desk office should be created in the legislature to enhance CSOs participation in legislative processes as well as legislators' benefit from research findings of CSOs.

Source:http://allafrica.com/