By Fred Itua, Abuja
On the 11th June, 2021, the 9th Senate, vis-a-vis, the National Assembly, will clock two years. The upper legislative chamber was inaugurated through a proclamation made by President Muhammadu Buhari. Two years after, many pundits have summed up the events as a terrific roller coaster. While some have rated their performance above average, others have come hard on them, insisting that their output is below average.
Prior to the election of Ahmad Lawan as President of the Senate, he had rolled out his agenda. Part of his agenda was to build bridges between the National Assembly and the Executive, despite the constitutional design which makes it technically impossible for the two arms to disagree. Lawan had also promised to pass key legislations that hitherto failed the National Assembly test.
Despite the relative peace and the bipartisan support the Lawan administration enjoys, lawmakers have however been complaining of their inability to effectively carry out their functions. For instance, since Lawan was elected, oversight visits and other checks on the Executive arm, have taken a backseat. The worsening insecurity in the country, has further heightened the fears of lawmakers to embark on oversight visits outside Abuja metropolis.
Pundits have also complained of the exit of robust interventions and heated debates on the floor of the Senate, which in the past, was a reoccurring decimal on the floor of the Senate. The pundits have attributed this trend to Lawan’s insistence that the National Assembly and the Executive, led by Muhammadu Buhari, must be on the same page.
Lawan had said: “In terms of the relationship between the executive and the legislature, I believe that you can have two relationships. The first is a negative one, the other one is a positive one. If you choose to fight, the two arms suffer and the country suffers even more because it is not possible for you to fight and yet get something done for the country.
“I don’t belong to the school of thought of encouraging fighting between the two arms of government. I can tell you I was in opposition for 16 years from 1999 to 2015. I argued and opposed positions that I felt was supposed to be opposed but I knew the limits of my opposition when the issues before us were issues that would make life better for Nigerians. There is nothing like rubber stamp. Of course, I won’t deny it. I am a President Buhari man. I am. I believe in him, I believe in my party because of the ideals it stands for.”
Senators have consistently argued against lopsidedness in the appointments into federal boards by President Buhari, which they describe as a breach of certain provisions of the Constitution and the Federal Character principle, enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Senator representing Ekiti Central and Chairman, Southern Senators Forum, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, recently advised President Buhari and his appointees saddled with nomination of individuals for appointments to uphold the federal character principle. He maintained that apart from meeting eligibility criteria stipulated for the relevant public offices into which they are being appointed, adequate care must also be taken to ensure that the federal character principle established by virtue of the clear provision of Section 14, Sub-section (3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is met by nominees.
Last month, a bill for the establishment of Armed Forces Services Commission, 2021, sponsored by the senator representing Abia South and Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, was rejected at second reading by the Senate. The bill sought to ensure that the composition of the Armed Forces of the Federation reflects federal character in the manner prescribed by Section 217 of the Constitution.
With the exception of the Senate the Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi and senator representing Taraba South, Emmanuel Bwacha, who spoke in support of the bill, majority of the senators from the North faulted the timing of the presentation of the bill as they claimed that it would politicise recruitment and promotion in the Armed Forces and undermine professionalism.
With the commencement of the second legislative year in June, 2020, several bills sponsored by senators, oversight visits, probes and other legislative functions are expected to take centre stage. If the current momentum is kept, the 9th Senate may surpass Bukola Saraki-led National Assembly in terms of bills and other legislative interventions.
Since it’s inauguration, the upper legislative chamber has maintained the budget cycle of January-December, making it the second budget to pass the January to December cycle since the Buhari administration reverted to the old practice in 2020.
The security challenges facing the country also became the main issue of discussion on the floor of the Senate several times in the past one year. From insurgency, to banditry, herdsmen killings, to arson at several markets and public institutions and so on, several security-related bills and motions were passed by senators.The Red Chamber had at various sittings, called for a state of emergency on insecurity.
That didn’t however, discourage lawmakers, as they kept on speaking on the worsening insecurity and offering resolutions to the Executive arm of government, despite its unwillingness to accept any workable solution. In April, as part of efforts to addressing the country’s security challenges, the Senate moved to strengthen laws against illegal arms.
Speaking at the public hearing on the Firearms Act 2004 (Amendment) Bill 2021 and Exclusive Economic Zones Act 2010 (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2021, Uba Sani said the current worrisome security situation in the country needs to be urgently addressed. Sani, who is the sponsor of the Firearms (Amendment) Bill, expressed concern that the proliferation of illegal arms and ammunition in the country with little or no control by relevant authorities has profound implications for collective survival of Nigerians and Nigeria.
Lawan on his part, called for increased funding for security agencies. Lawan who made the call at various fora said security personnel needed more resources to enable them effectively carryout their duties.
Though the Ninth Senate made some strides through passage of bills, motions, interventions towards the betterment of the lives of Nigerians, with the emergence of Lawan, it appeared the principle of checks and balances may have disappeared. Since he assumed office, almost every request sought by President Muhammadu Buhari has been given express approval.
For instance, despite the country’s debt profile, the 9th National Assembly keeps approving several loan requests from President Buhari. Last year, the lawmakers had approved $5.5 billion loan request by the President to finance 2020 budget deficits. The request came weeks after the lawmakers approved a loan of N850bn for the Federal Government and another $22.79bn loan.
Recently, Buhari wrote to the Senate seeking approval for N2.3 trillion ($6.18bn) external loan to finance the 2021 budget deficit of N5.6 trillion.The President also sought the lawmakers concurrent approval of a total sum of USD 3,837,281,256 plus Euro 910,000,000 and Grant Component of USD 10,000,000 for donor fund projects under the 2018-2020 Federal Government’s external borrowing rolling plan. The fresh requests are coming a month after the Senate and House of Representatives approved the sum of $1.5bn and €995 million external borrowings for the Federal Government to finance various priority projects of the Federal Government and to support the state governments facing fiscal challenges.
Though Nigerians have expressed concerns over the current move, it still wouldn’t stop the lawmakers from approving the loan requests. On pending key bills, Lawan at various fora had assured Nigerians that they would ensure the passage of the long awaited Petroleum Industry Bill, Electoral Act Amendment Bill and so on.
The Senate President said the National Assembly would pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and the Electoral Amendment Bill by first quarter of 2021. However, the lawmakers failed to keep their promise, leading to a backlash from Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), who bemoaned their failure to conclude and transmit the Electoral Act Amendment Bill to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent, saying it must be done before June 12, 2021.On the review of the 1999 Constitution, the Senate as part of the promises in its legislative agenda, is on the verge of giving the Nigerian people what it described as the people-oriented constitution.
The Senate is done with both zonal and national public hearing on the constitution review with zonal public hearings held in 12 centres across the six geo-political zones as well as a national public hearing in Abuja, which ended last week.
Though lawmakers are optimistic that the exercise would be successful this time, many Nigerians have expressed doubts if the 9th National Assembly could pass the necessary constitutional reforms, due to the latest positions taken by Lawan on the issue of restructuring. Lawan had in a response to a call by Southern Governors at their meeting in Asaba, Delta State capital last month for President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately convene a national dialogue with a view to restructuring the country, said restructuring must commence from the various states.
On probes, senators have also failed to let Nigerians know the outcome of several of them embarked upon by some committees in the Red Chambers. With the third legislative year of the Ninth Senate commencing on June 11, this year, it is hoped that the upper legislative chamber would pass critical bills such as the PIB, Electoral Act, etc and also deliver on their promise of amending the 1999 constitution before going on its annual recess in July, this year.