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House of Reps goes digital, Speaker says ready for e-parliament
BY NICHOLAS ABE
The House of Representatives is set for electronic conduct of its legislative activities on the floor of the chamber when it reconvenes on Tuesday, September 29, Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila said on Friday.
Gbajabiamila, who assured that the e-parliament promised by the 9th House on its inauguration in June last year would commence on resumption from annual vacation, expressed satisfaction that it was a promise fulfilled.
While on an inspection of the newly installed digital system accompanied by journalists, the Speaker regretted that over time, legislative activities were often hindered by obsolete public address system.
He said: “This is one of the things we promised to do in the 9th Assembly. I’m glad we’ve been able to deliver that within a year. We promised e-voting, the chamber is now more or less paperless, all the documents you need for legislative business are uploaded.
“We have the Constitution, House Rules, Code of Conduct, Legislative Agenda, Order Papers on daily basis, Motions, everything is uploaded. You find this anywhere in the world, in the most advanced democracies.
“The system is very advanced, it has the capacity for members to research on the spot, on the floor. If there’s an issue that comes up on the floor, there’s a search engine that is dedicated only for that purpose and you can quickly research and reference on the spot.
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“This also is connected to our registration process, so, we have e-attendance. Rather than signing in manually, now, you can use your thumb and your attendance is captured when you come in.”
On the audio system of the new platform, Gbajabiamila said each system on each seat has its speaker, that would be deactivated to enable a louder and sharper sound system that has been connected to the surround system.
“This has the capacity for members to bring in and use their own earplugs, just like we see in most legislative houses. We are excited that we have this going on, we’ve been able to tick that box,” he said.
The Speaker was accompanied by the Deputy House Leader, Peter Akpatason, Spokesman of the House, Rep. Benjamin Kalu, Chairman Committee on House Services Rep Wale Raji and others.