(SINL NIGERIA) The chairman of Senate committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Neda Imasuen (Edo South) has bemoaned that a lot of Nigerians do not know the activities of the committee, saying “they are not aware of the services we render to the ordinary man or woman”.
Senator Imasuen made this known on Tuesday while briefing newsmen on the activities of the committee and level of compliance by respondents in Abuja.
He said “let me use this opportunity to let the world know, Nigerians at large, that we are here to serve them. And we are serving them”.
“Because it appears that this committee is not properly known. It’s not well known to the community, to our nation. And they are not aware of the services we render to the ordinary man or woman.
“It is a committee that you don’t pay anything to come. You don’t need a lawyer to represent you. If you have a lawyer, that’s fine.
“But you really don’t need a lawyer to represent you. So you don’t spend money before the committee” he said.
Commenting on what the committee is doing to create awareness for the citizenry to know its existence, the lawmaker said “Well, I hope and I believe that part of that solution is why you’re here. So I am hoping that after this interview, you will also help us to propagate what we do.
“So that the entire Nigerian citizenry will know that we’re here to work for them. But let me guide that it is a very simple procedure. If they feel that they’ve been discriminated against, if they feel that they have been unjustly treated, if they feel that their rights have been trampled upon, whatever they feel against our institutions or people who they think are too big for them to take on, they should come to us.
“And how do they come to us? Two ways, either they go through their senators, because every Nigerian has a senator.
“Go through your senator, do the petition, the senator comes to the floor and lays it as a motion. Once it’s laid, it is then referred to us and then we attend to it. If that’s not the case, then you can petition straight to the Senate President, and then he officiates it and then refers it back to me, to my committee, and I will now lay it on the floor for it to be referred to our committee for necessary actions”.
He however emphasized that the committee do not take any case that is before any court of competent jurisdiction. “We do not, because there is a separation of power here. We don’t pretend to be judges”.
“We are not. But we are just what they call the alternative dispute resolution, a step that has come with a level of power to make sure that what we do is respected and is complied with” Senator Imasuen added.
