At its inauguration on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, the new leadership of the 10th National Assembly (NASS) vowed not to be a rubber stamp of the executive arm of government. According to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Senate under him will engender effective oversight of the executive for responsive policies. Similarly, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, promised that the 10th NASS would collaborate with the executive on the basis of upholding the principles of checks and balances as well as the principles of transparency, accountability and respect for the rule of law.
It is good to hear from the leadership of the NASS that it would assert its independence. That is how it should be. The legislature is an important arm of government. It distinguishes a dictatorship from a democratic government. It acts as a check on the excesses of the executive arm by making laws and approving certain actions or policies of the executive.
Unfortunately, this has not been the case with our legislature. Over the years, our lawmakers have made themselves lackeys of the executive, which often interferes with the election of their principal officers. The same scenario played out in the current dispensation. This is against the Doctrine of Separation of Powers. That is why most principal officers of the National Assembly are usually beholden to the President.
The leadership of the 9th National Assembly had this problem. It didn’t have any courage to question many of the actions of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari. Often, the principal officers appeared in the presidential villa to dine and wine with the President. There were some policies that didn’t go down well with the people. The lawmakers were supposed to act. But they closed their eyes to such policies. For instance, they failed to check the borrowing binge of the immediate past administration. This is partly why it is often said that the Nigerian President is the most powerful in the world. He wields a lot of executive powers and chooses which law to obey and which not to obey.
In advanced democracies, the legislators check the excesses of the executive. In the United States, for instance, former President Donald Trump was impeached twice in office. In 2019, the House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The second impeachment, which occurred in 2021, was for his role in inciting a violent mob that stormed the Capitol in January 2021.For the British Prime Minister, the fear of the parliament is the beginning of wisdom. Members of the Parliament scrutinise every action and policy of the Prime Minister such that he cannot afford to misbehave.
Our lawmakers should begin now to assert their independence. They should scrutinise every bill that is presented to them with a view to passing laws that will be in the greatest interest of Nigerians. As they discuss any bill, what should be uppermost in their minds is the unity and progress of the country. In Nigeria today, there are so many issues seeking the attention of the National Assembly. One of them is restructuring. There is need to practise true federalism. Currently, there is no regional or zonal balancing in the appointments and leadership cadre of the country. The President, Bola Tinubu, is from the South-West while the Vice-President, Kashim Shettima, is from the North-East. The Senate President, Akpabio, is from the South-South while his deputy, Jibrin Barau, is from the North-West. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas, is also from the North-West. The South-East, which constitutes one of the major ethnic groups in Nigeria, is only left with the deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Kalu.
Besides, the immediate past administration of Buhari completely ignored and neglected the South-East in major appointments, especially in the security circles. This falls short of the Federal Character principle as enshrined in Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution. It does not augur well for the peace and unity of the country.
The 10th National Assembly should do well to prevent this type of scenario. The lawmakers should not approve nominations for political appointments that do not reflect the Federal Character principle. They should initiate and pass bills that will engender equity, fairness, justice and political inclusion in the distribution of offices and wealth of this nation. If nepotism is pushed to the background; if all the geo-political zones in the country have a sense of belonging in the country, there will be no ground for self-determination agitations as are obtainable now in certain parts of the country.
Moreover, the oversight functions of the lawmakers should not be tied to monetary gains. In the past, allegations were rife that the lawmakers demanded bribes to carry out their oversight duties. Some ministerial nominees had also accused them of demanding bribes to approve their nominations. In some cases, they institute phantom probes of some agencies just to create avenues to milk such agencies. There should be no room for this type of behaviour in the 10th National Assembly. We congratulate the elected officers and urge them to put Nigeria first in all they do.