The National Assembly elections which had been the subject of many negative allegations and intrigues eventually held and ended on a whimper on June 11, with the chosen candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) winning the highly coveted offices with a convincing majority. All the muckraking, allegations and counter-allegations that attended the battles for the critical leadership positions failed to derail the election of the chosen party candidates, and today, Femi Gbajamiala is the Speaker of the House of Representatives while Ahmed Lawan is Senate President.
The ease with which these candidates were elected last week is a breath of fresh air. It is a welcome departure from the subterfuge and high drama that characterised the NASS elections in 2015 when the APC was beaten black and blue by Senator Bukola Saraki, who forged an alliance with legislators of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to whom he traded the position of Deputy Senate President, in exchange for their support to emerge Senate President. This was contrary to the wish of his own ruling APC. Yakubu Dogara also emerged the Speaker, against the party’s preference of Gbajabiamila for the position.
The outcome of the discordance at the emergence of Saraki and Dogara as the 8th NASS leaders is that the executive and legislative arms of government were hardly ever on the same page on issues in the last four year. Even the efforts of the executive to expedite the delivery of certain critical projects such as the Second Niger Bridge and the arterial Lagos-Ibadan Expressway were seemingly thwarted by the National Assembly which cut the budgetary allocations for the projects. The budget for the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was significantly cut under the guise that the Federal Government should be able to execute it using a public-private partnership (PPP) Scheme. The impression that this, and other tussles between the National Assembly and the Presidency created, was that the then Senate President, Saraki, was interested in undermining the president’s efforts and limiting his achievements with a view to paving the way for his own (Saraki) plan to take over from him in the 2019 election. This impression, unfortunately, persisted throughout the tenure of the 8th Assembly, even though more funds were reportedly later released for the contentious projects. It is, however, gratifying that there will, hopefully, be concord in the Presidency/9th NASS relationship.
Sadly, the thinking of many persons seemingly eternally opposed to the Buhari administration is that the expected concord between the executive and legislative arms of government will make NASS a rubberstamp of the Presidency. This view is unduly pessimistic, as the legislature does not have to be antagonistic to the executive arm of government to make a success of its assignment. In the same way, a cordial working relationship between the National Assembly and the Presidency can smoothen service delivery to the people. The budgets will be passed more speedily and both arms of government can work together to ensure the achievement of the party’s objectives.
Both the Presidency and the NASS must, however, be careful to avoid complacency and over-confidence on the emergence of the preferred candidates. The legislature must be careful to go through the presidency’s proposals with a toothcomb, not to unduly delay government’s projects or recommendations, but to ensure that the right thing is done at all times by the Nigerian people. Where both arms of government are sincere and committed to doing the right things for the country, there should be no conflict or undue flexing of legislative or presidential muscles.
The National Assembly must remain a check and a moderating force on the Executive arm of government, for the good of the nation, and not to slow down the pace of governance or undermine the executive. It must not be prone to manipulation by the Executive but do everything that it can to ensure the smooth and quick passage of bills after their close scrutiny. It should also avoid undue politicization of issues that will be detrimental to the smooth delivery of government projects.
Getting the budgets passed in good time is, however, not the sole responsibility of NASS. The executive must ensure that the budget estimates are presented in good time and that the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of governments (MDAS) speedily defend their budgets. Luckily, the new leadership has set a deadline within which MDAS must defend their budgets. If budget estimates are presented early enough (months before the end of a preceding legislative year) and the estimates are speedily defended by MDAS and considered by NASS, there will be hope that we can go back to the days of quick passage and timely execution of budgets.
Nigerians want a good relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government. The National Assembly must however be careful to protect and assert its independence. It must be the eye and hand of the Nigerian people and ensure that the executive is above board in all its recommendations. The charges of unfairness of the executive in appointments into public offices must be checkmated.
The executive arm of government must not ride roughshod over the whole country in its appointments. We expect the legislators to put partisanship and their personal interests aside and see the entire country as their constituencies as they ensure justice and equity for all parts of the country. They should see their offices as a public trust and not for personal aggrandizement or enrichment only.
One issue that Nigerians have been very concerned about is the “Jumbo pay” of the legislators, when compared with the general salary structure in the country. A situation in which huge sums of money are appropriated to themselves by the legislators in a country where salaries are so low and poverty is writ large does not portray the legislators as working in the national interest. Already, the allowances that will be paid to NASS members in the next three months have been put at about N4.7billion.
The 8th NASS was not able to make the sacrifice necessary to effect a reduction in the humongous allowances. It is hoped that the present NASS will be able to stand with Nigerian people on this matter. There are so many problems plaguing the country that all the past governments have been unable to address effectively. There is so little to cheer in the education, health and economic sectors. Power supply has also remained epileptic.
The legislature is expected to come up with policies and resolutions to address these problems. It must work hand in glove with the executive to deliver on the change agenda of the government. What Nigerians require today is a collaboration of all arms of government and sincerity of purpose to deliver on the promises of the government to ensure a better life for the people.