…As WFD pushes nationwide adoption of post-legislative scrutiny

The Oyo State House of Assembly is set to scrutinise the implementation of its Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Referral Centre Agency Law, with plans to engage survivors and other affected stakeholders to establish whether the legislation is achieving its intended objectives.

Its Post-Legislative Scrutiny (PLS) Unit Coordinator of the state assembly, Mrs Okundeji Aderonke, said the proposed inquiry will examine implementation challenges, identify gaps in the delivery of services to survivors and generate evidence-based recommendations for improving the law.

Aderonke disclosed this at a two-day Post-Legislative Scrutiny Assist Prototype Capacity-Building Workshop and Mock PLS Inquiry organised by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) in Abuja.

She explained that the engagement of survivors was critical to the scrutiny process, as their experiences would provide first-hand evidence of how the law was being implemented and the challenges confronting those seeking support and redress.

“We need to engage with survivors, those people that are really involved in this matter, because that is where we are going to get the evidence that will back up the facts and what we are going to present in our report,” she said.

The coordinator, who described post-legislative scrutiny as an emerging legislative accountability mechanism, said Oyo State inaugurated Nigeria’s first subnational PLS unit in January 2025.

She disclosed that the unit had conducted inquiries into two existing laws: the Oyo State Open Rearing and Grazing Regulation Law, 2019, and the Oyo State Security Network Agency Law, 2020, popularly known as the Amotekun law.

According to her, PLS enables lawmakers to move beyond the passage of legislation to examine its implementation, identify shortcomings and determine whether it is delivering the expected results.

Aderonke urged government to provide adequate support for the initiative, stressing that effective scrutiny required cooperation between the legislative and executive arms, particularly the Ministry of Justice.

“We want government to give this PLS initiative full support because it is going to assist in policymaking and the implementation process,” she said.

The Country Director of WFD in Nigeria, Adebowale Olorunmola, also called for the institutionalisation of PLS across the National and State Houses of Assembly, saying legislation must be assessed periodically to determine its effectiveness.

He explained that the process allows lawmakers to revisit laws, usually two or three years after enactment, to identify implementation gaps and unintended consequences rather than wait for public complaints before taking corrective action.

Olorunmola said WFD was working with the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), which had established a dedicated PLS unit following capacity-building engagements.

He identified Oyo State as a pioneer in subnational adoption, while Delta State had established a PLS directorate and was considering laws for scrutiny.

He stressed that PLS was different from routine legislative oversight, as it involved systematic engagement with citizens, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to assess the actual impact of legislation.

Similarly, the Director of the Post-Legislative Scrutiny Department of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rabudike Emmanuel, described the framework as an important tool for measuring the practical impact of laws on citizens.

Emmanuel said the process would enable lawmakers to identify areas where legislation was failing to achieve its objectives and recommend improvements to strengthen implementation, policymaking and development.

The workshop, which brought together participants from NILDS and the Oyo and Delta State Houses of Assembly, also featured practical sessions and a simulated inquiry to test the PLS Assist Prototype, a technology-driven tool designed to support legislative research and scrutiny.

Stakeholders said institutionalising the process would help ensure that laws translated into measurable benefits for citizens rather than remain provisions on paper.