Legislative business anywhere in the world undoubtedly is considered a serious one and very challenging.

This is due to the fact that as an arm of government, which serve as a check and balance to the executive, the legislature sets the tune for good governance.

This sacred role, makes it imperative that legislators as the peoples representatives must always be alive to their responsibilities by coming up with laws that would assist the executive in the discharge of its duties and meeting the needs of the governed. To function effectively, the legislators must update their knowledge from time to time through training on how best to carry out legislative duties.

It is in realisation of the above that the Fifth Assembly in Kwara State under the leadership of the speaker, Dr. Ali Ahmad, deemed it fit to organise a workshop for the members of the state house of assembly.

The retreat was geared towards making the legislators to be more equipped and further sharpen their skills in law making business. The three-day workshop took place at Ede in Osun State from Monday through Wednesday last week. During the programme the legislators were tutored on how to ensure proper budget planning, conduct oversight functions, draft motions, sponsor bills and how to observe standing orders.

The selected resource persons drawn from the Nigeria Institute of Legislative Studies did justice to various topics of discuss at the workshop.

Declaring the workshop open, the Dr Ahmad said the importance of the retreat could not be over-emphasised as it would greatly assist the lawmakers in the discharge of their duties.

He stated that the training became imperative because majority of the House members are new in the system, noting that such exposure would greatly assist them to be able to cope with challenges of their work.

Ahmad added that having such training would further expose them to how they could work closely with the executive in making policies and programmes that would have positive impact on the citizens. He added that the programme would also assist in budget planning, as it was their constitutional responsibility to scrutinise appropriation Bills before passing it into law to ensure transparency and accountability . The speaker encouraged the legislators to take advantage of the training in order to be more armed in the legislative work.

Stressing the importance of the programme, he said measures would be put in place to ensure that members benefited more from such workshops as it would further enhance their participation and enable them contribute positively to the success of the assembly.

As curtain drew on the programme, the lawmakers expressed satisfaction with the workshop, which they confirmed further informed and enlightened them on how to go about their duties.

Also speaking, the house leader, Hon Hassan Oyeleke representing, Essa/Shawo/Igbodun Constituency commended the initiative, which he noted would in no small way enhance their performances.

Oyeleke said as legislators, their jobs include making researches on various things that would aid their legislative assignments.

The workshop which could be described as worth-while for the legislators, it is hoped would be one out of several for the lawmakers in a bid to make the Kwara Eight Assembly efficient and effective.