Ambassador Chibuzo Okereke, an academic and legislative adviser, has spent much of his career working around Nigeria's National Assembly, providing technical support to committees and lawmakers. His work focuses on fiscal oversight, legislative performance assessment, inter-parliamentary cooperation, and public debate on parliamentary reform. With a doctorate in Legislative Governance Studies and master's degrees in Public Administration and Legislative Studies, Okereke's expertise has been instrumental in shaping Nigeria's legislative landscape.
Okereke's role as a legislative adviser has seen him work closely with National Assembly committees and senior lawmakers. He has also taught public policy and administration, placing him at the intersection of research and parliamentary practice. His work with the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee is a notable example, where he served as a legislative adviser and helped investigate public expenditure and government accounts.
The Public Accounts Committee is central to parliamentary oversight, and Okereke's technical work has been crucial in examining public spending. During his tenure, investigations generated substantial attention over the recovery of public funds, with figures reported in tens and hundreds of billions of naira. Okereke's work on parliamentary fiscal oversight extended beyond individual investigations, including organizing international conferences on public accounts and fiscal theory.
Okereke has also sought to measure legislative performance using data, developing frameworks to make parliamentary activity more visible. The National Assembly Deliberative Barometer, a digital platform, tracks parliamentary activity using legislative performance indicators, providing information on plenary debates, motions, and other aspects of parliamentary activity. The Legislative Committee Performance Index is another example, developed to assess and monitor standing and ad hoc committees.
Okereke's technical work has extended to major oversight exercises outside the Public Accounts Committee, including the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project and investigations involving abandoned projects of the Niger Delta Development Commission. His role has been primarily technical, helping to structure information, develop analytical frameworks, and support committees as they undertake oversight.
Okereke's involvement in legislative reform has also extended to questions of political participation, including advocacy around the Not Too Young To Run campaign, which sought constitutional changes to reduce age barriers to elective office in Nigeria. He is also a co-convener of the National Legislative Conference, a platform bringing together lawmakers, policymakers, academics, and development partners to discuss legislative governance and institutional reform.
Key points
- Chibuzo Okereke's work has focused on fiscal oversight, legislative performance assessment, and inter-parliamentary cooperation in Nigeria's legislative system.
- Okereke has developed frameworks to measure legislative performance using data, including the National Assembly Deliberative Barometer and the Legislative Committee Performance Index.
- His technical work has extended to major oversight exercises, including the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project and investigations involving abandoned projects of the Niger Delta Development Commission.
