Ex-minister, Turaki, seeks review of some laws to enhance good governance

Mr Turaki said that legislative drafting is very necessary when a policy is about to be transformed into a legislative framework.

A former Minister of Special Duties, Kabir Turaki, on Tuesday, called for a review of some of the existing laws to engender good governance and development in the country.
Mr Turaki, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), made the call in Abuja at a book launch to mark the 59th birthday of Abubakar Sulaiman, the director-general, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).

The book, entitled: ‘An Introduction to Comparative Legislative Drafting”, a collection of essays, was edited by Tonye Jaja, in honour of Mr Sulaiman, a professor.

Mr Turaki said that laws and policies were essential tools for social engineering and critical to regulating human behaviours.

He argued that such laws and policies could only come through quality legislative drafting.

“Legislative drafting is very necessary when a policy is about to be transformed into a legislative framework.

“It is very significant for the purpose of amendments of existing legislations.

“We must appreciate that life is very dynamic and to meet up with this dynamism, our laws which regulate human behaviour must be continuously upgraded,” he said.

In his remarks, the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Basic Education, Rep. Muktar Shagaya (APC-Kwara), said the importance of legislative drafting could not be over-emphasised.

Mr Shagaya said that in a democratic system, the quality of legislative drafting directly impacts the efficacy of laws, governance, and social development.

“A well-drafted law can address pressing national issues, promote transparency, foster justice, and protect the rights of citizens.

“On the other hand, poorly crafted legislation often leads to ambiguities, misinterpretations, and inefficiencies in policy implementation.

“This book, which we are launching today, not only enriches the academic study of legislative drafting but also serves as a practical guide for lawmakers, legal scholars, and professionals,” he said.

The lawmaker urged Nigerians to take the lessons from the book, apply them in their respective fields, and continue the work of building a legislative framework that would uphold the tenets of justice, equality, and good governance.

About the book

The book entitled ‘ An Introduction to Comparative Legislative Drafting(Cases and Materials) is a collection of essays edited by Tonye Jaja, a senior research fellow at NILDS.

According to Mr Jaja, the book is a “groundbreaking book because it is the first of its kind to use six criteria, namely: Nomenclature, Drafting Personnel, Structure of Legislation, Legislation for Drafting, Supporting Documents and Publication of Legislation to compare and contrast the different legal/legislative drafting systems of the world.”

In the book, which has 10 chapters, the major jurisdictions and legal systems that are examined include the common legal system as exemplified by the United Kingdom; the civil law legal tradition as exemplified by France; the Islamic law system as exemplified by Saudi Arabia; and the legislative drafting systems of the African Union(AU); United Nations(UN) and the European Union.

While reviewing the book, Abiodun Amuda-Kannike, a professor, described the book as a ground-breaking work, saying it was the first of its kind in the country.

Mr Amuda-Kannike, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said that legislative drafting was very important, adding: “Laws will continue to guide the societal engagement.”

He said that if legislative drafting was ignored, it could lead to a breakdown of law and order as acts of parliaments would be ambiguous.

He recommended the book for legal practitioners, the legal bench, scholars, business persons and legislators, saying that it was relevant for all stakeholders in the society.

Mr Amuda-Kannike said the electronic copy of the book should be produced for easy circulation and access by all Nigerians, Africans and the global community as a whole.

(NAN)