Three years into its tenure, the 10th House of Representatives has redefined legislative governance through landmark reforms, strategic executive collaboration and record-breaking lawmaking. KEHINDE AKINTOLA reflects on the journey so far.
Three years after its inauguration, Nigeria’s 10th House of Representatives has established itself as one of the most productive legislatures since the country’s return to democratic rule in 1999. Under the leadership of Speaker Abbas Tajudeen and Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, the House has pursued an ambitious legislative agenda centred on security, economic reforms, education, governance and political inclusion, while maintaining constructive engagement with the Executive arm of government.
The House’s third-year scorecard reflects unprecedented legislative productivity. Lawmakers introduced 2,747 bills, passed 363 and, together with the Senate, they secured presidential assent for 72, representing the highest legislative output by any National Assembly since 1999. Beyond lawmaking, the House also considered more than 800 public petitions, resolving numerous disputes involving citizens, institutions and government agencies, reinforcing its commitment to responsive governance and public accountability.
Its close working relationship with President Bola Tinubu’s administration has accelerated the passage of key reforms under the Renewed Hope Agenda. Through legislative backing, the House has supported tax reforms, the Investments and Securities Act, the Electricity Act, budget approvals and other measures designed to improve the investment climate, strengthen fiscal management and stimulate economic growth while retaining its constitutional oversight role.
However, despite acknowledging these achievements, several civil society organisations have cautioned that legislative productivity alone should not define the success of Parliament. Executive Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Clement Nwankwo, commended the House for advancing constitutional reforms, improving transparency and expanding citizen engagement through initiatives such as the annual Open Week. He nevertheless stressed that the Legislature must continue to exercise independent oversight of the Executive, arguing that genuine cooperation should never come at the expense of constitutional checks and balances.
Economic reforms remain one of the most significant outcomes of Executive-Legislative collaboration. The House enacted tax reform laws aimed at simplifying Nigeria’s tax system, reducing multiple taxation and easing the burden on small businesses. It also supported reforms to modernise the capital market and approved budgets prioritising infrastructure, transportation, energy and human capital development as key drivers of sustainable economic growth.
Education has equally benefited from legislative intervention. The enactment of the Student Loan Act introduced an interest-free financing scheme to expand access to tertiary education for qualified Nigerians regardless of their financial circumstances. The House also strengthened educational financing and consumer credit frameworks, recognising that investment in human capital is essential for long-term national development.
Security reforms have remained a central focus of the current Assembly. While consistently approving increased funding for the Armed Forces, intelligence agencies, the Nigeria Police and other security institutions, lawmakers concluded that structural reforms were equally necessary. This informed sustained efforts to amend the Constitution to establish State Police as a decentralised policing system capable of addressing local security challenges more effectively.
Demonstrating institutional cooperation, the House agreed to prioritise President Tinubu’s Executive State Police Bill over its earlier proposal, describing the executive version as a more comprehensive constitutional framework. The proposed legislation includes safeguards such as independent State Police Service Commissions, nationally prescribed standards, judicial oversight and limited federal intervention under clearly defined constitutional circumstances.
Beyond policing reforms, the House has advocated integrated biometric databases, intelligence sharing, technology-driven policing, stronger border security and improved inter-agency coordination. Enhanced legislative oversight has also contributed to increased operational capacity for security agencies, with the successful rescue of abducted schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo State cited as evidence of improved security outcomes.
Political inclusion has also featured prominently on the House’s legislative agenda. Through ongoing constitutional amendment processes, lawmakers are advancing proposals to increase women’s representation through the Special Seats Bill, alongside broader reforms covering electoral administration, local government autonomy, governance restructuring and federalism.
Proceeds of crime reform
During the period under review, the 10th House also passed far-reaching amendments to Nigeria’s proceeds of crime law, introducing a comprehensive legal framework for whistleblower protection while significantly expanding the powers of anti-corruption agencies to recover suspected proceeds of crime, including virtual assets and properties transferred to third parties.
Before embarking on the annual recess, the House passed the bill through Third Reading following the adoption of the report of the House Committee on Financial Crimes. The proposed legislation seeks to amend the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act, No. 92 of 2022, broadening the scope of non-conviction-based asset forfeiture, strengthening procedures for tracing illicit wealth, establishing a legal framework for whistleblowing and witness protection, and creating a National Confiscated Wallet for Virtual Assets to be maintained by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
In line with legislative procedure, the bill will be transmitted to the Senate for concurrence before being forwarded to the President for assent. A major feature of the amendment is the introduction of a new Section 80 dedicated to whistleblower protection. Under the provision, relevant anti-corruption agencies will receive, analyse and investigate information supplied by whistleblowers with a view to recovering properties reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity, abandoned assets or instrumentalities of crime.
The bill further mandates agencies to protect, secure and, where necessary, resettle whistleblowers whose information leads to successful asset recovery. To support this, each relevant organisation is required to create a dedicated budgetary subhead for the protection, security and resettlement of whistleblowers.
However, the legislation also seeks to discourage malicious reports by prescribing sanctions for false information. It provides that where information is found to be false and knowingly supplied by the whistleblower, the whistleblower shall be guilty of an offence and, upon conviction, liable to two years’ imprisonment or a fine of N2 million, or both.
The defection question
While the 10th House has recorded significant legislative achievements, its three-year journey has also been marked by one of the most dramatic episodes of political realignment in recent parliamentary history—the mass movement of lawmakers across party lines. `Since July 2024, no fewer than 91 members of the 10th House of Representatives have switched party allegiance, underscoring the deepening culture of political fluidity within the Green Chamber. The figures are particularly striking because the overwhelming beneficiary has been the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which gained 83 seats from the defections.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) gained six seats, while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Accord Party (AP) gained one seat each. The figures demonstrate how dramatically party representation has changed since the inauguration of the 10th Assembly.
On the other side of the political equation, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suffered the heaviest losses, with 61 lawmakers defecting from its platform. The Labour Party (LP) followed with 20 losses, while the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) lost five members. The Young Progressives Party (YPP) and ADC also recorded losses, while APGA lost one seat. The situation reached a symbolic turning point when the YPP lost its last remaining member, effectively ending its representation in the Green Chamber. Accord Party, on the other hand, secured its first seat in the 10th Assembly through the continuing realignment.
Electoral Act and the 2027 factor
It is against this backdrop that the Electoral Act, 2026, assumes particular importance as Nigeria moves towards the 2027 general elections. Beyond the technical administration of elections, the new electoral framework is expected to have significant implications for the movement of elected politicians between political parties.
The legislation seeks to strengthen the rules governing cross-carpeting and make it considerably more difficult for lawmakers and other elected officials to abandon the platforms on which they secured their mandates simply because of changing political calculations. The underlying principle is straightforward: an electoral mandate belongs to the electorate and should not be treated as a transferable political asset.
For politicians contemplating another round of mass defections ahead of 2027, the emerging legal framework could therefore change the calculation. Instead of simply announcing a new political affiliation and retaining their seats, defecting lawmakers could face consequences where their movement does not satisfy the constitutional and statutory conditions.
For the political class, the message is increasingly clear: party membership cannot remain merely a convenient vehicle for accessing elective office. If a politician wins a mandate on the platform of one party and subsequently wishes to pursue a different political direction, the emerging framework places greater emphasis on constitutional compliance and accountability to the electorate.
Private sector and citizens
The House has also strengthened engagement with the organised private sector. During its Third-Year Open Week, Speaker Tajudeen pledged to promote regulatory certainty, harmonise tax regimes, improve access to finance for small businesses, repeal obsolete commercial laws and institutionalise dialogue through the proposed National Assembly and Business Executive Roundtable (NABER).
Transparency and public participation have equally become defining features of the 10th House. Annual Open Week activities have expanded access to Parliament by bringing together civil society organisations, businesses, youth groups, diplomats and development partners, while ongoing digitisation of legislative processes has improved access to parliamentary information and strengthened democratic accountability.
Yet, as the 10th House enters the final phase of its tenure, the most important test may no longer be the number of bills passed or the number of presidential assents secured. It will be whether the laws already enacted are effectively implemented and whether they translate into tangible improvements in the lives of Nigerians.
