By Fred Itua, Abuja
Prior to the election of Ahmad Lawan as President of the Senate and Femi Gbajabiamila as Speaker of the House of Representatives, pundits and key political actors had expressed concerns over their suitability to provide the necessary leadership. Almost two years after their election, the National Assembly, many believe, is now like an appendage to the Executive.
Since the duo assumed office, almost every request sought by President Muhammadu Buhari, has been given express approval. For instance, in just one year and six months, the Senate and the House of Representatives, approved about $38 billion as loans to President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to execute various projects.
Though many Nigerians have expressed misgivings, the latest positions taken by Lawan and Gbajabiamila on the issue of restructuring, has left many with doubts if the 9th National Assembly can pass the necessary constitutional reforms that will birth the beginning of restructuring long yearned for. For Lawan and Gbajabiamila, it appears it is becoming a taboo to challenge some of the excesses of the Executive, led by Buhari.
The shock from the recent faux pas by the duo at the Presidential Villa, is yet to settle. In response to a call by governors of Southern Nigeria, at their meeting in Asaba, Delta State, for President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately convene a national dialogue with a view to restructuring the country, Lawan and Gbajabiamila, hurriedly posited that restructuring must commence from the various states. For them, governors were wrong to have asked for some changes to make more states viable.
The position of the two presiding officers of the National Assembly, is coming at a time when the two chambers were at the verge of passing major constitutional reforms ahead of the 2023 general elections. Pundits who are yet to recover from the faux pas, are wondering if the ongoing constitution review exercise in the National Assembly, is just another talk show.
Lawan and Gbajabiamila had argued that the governors have not allowed local governments to perform their constitutional roles, noting that they ought to play important roles in tackling insecurity. Lawan, particularly said that the governors should not be the ones agitating for restructuring.
“I believe that as leaders, especially those of us who are elected into office, (we) should not be at the forefront of calling for this kind of thing because even if you are a governor, you are supposed to be working hard in your state to ensure that this restructuring you are calling for at the federal level, you have done it in your state as well,” he had said.
“What you may accuse the Federal Government of, whatever it is, you may also be accused of the same thing in your state. So, we are supposed to ensure that we have a complete and total way of ensuring that our systems at the federal, state and even local government levels work for the people. We must allow people to participate in governance so that whoever feels he has something to offer to make Nigeria better does so freely without any let or hindrance.
“The President is reaching out to all the stakeholders. And I believe that as leaders, particularly those of us who were elected at all levels of government, we should avoid partisanship. We should avoid regionalism. We are all leaders and we are in this together. The solutions to our challenges must come from us regardless of what level of government we are – whether at the federal, state or local government level. I believe that Nigeria is going to come out of these challenges stronger.
“We are all leaders and we are in this together; the solutions must come from us regardless of what levels of leadership we are– whether at the federal level, state level, or even at the local government level.
“I also want to take this opportunity to say that we have diminished the local government system. I think we can attribute the security issues to the absence of a functional local government system. I think the time has come for us to take up the challenge and ensure that the local government system functions. This is as we look for ways to curb the security challenge.
“We must never neglect the local government system. We must go back to our local government system to ensure they are autonomous and functional,” Lawan said.
Speaking in similar fashion, Gbajabiamila, described those championing the call for secession as misguided people who did not mean well for the country.
According to him, while there might be genuine agitations, elected leaders and state governors should not be among the restructuring advocates without first replicating the idea at the state level. He, therefore, called for a national spirit of oneness, saying: “If truth be told, we all have equal shares in the blame for what’s happening today.
“Whatever challenges we have, we must all come together to make sure that we resolve these issues we’re facing. We must imbibe that spirit of oneness, togetherness, unity and love that would take us through this,” he said.
The views expressed by the duo have not gone well with stakeholders. Gbajabiamila, who many believe should have been the leading voice calling for restructuring, made a sudden U-turn, few hours after they came under severe attack. Spokesman of the House of Representatives, Ben Kalu, in a statement, said Gbajabiamila was not opposed to the position advanced by Southern Governors.
The statement titled: “The Speaker did not say he is opposed to the Southern Governors’ calls for restructuring”, read: “The attention of the House has been drawn to several publications on online and traditional media claiming that the Speaker, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, is opposed to the Southern Governors’ call for restructuring.
“The House gathers that this allegation was attributed to statements made by the Speaker at a recent interview seeking his opinion on the issue. The House states clearly and unequivocally that the publications are false and misleading.
Unlike Gbajabiamila, a defiant Lawan refused to cave in. Instead, he insisted that he had the right to hold an opinion. Lawan’s media adviser, Ola Awoniyi, in a piece, said the Senate President will not be cowed and will change his position, despite the increasing attacks.
He wrote: “As I have said, Lawan is not one to shy away from expressing himself on any national issue no matter how controversial the issue is. He does not talk when he has nothing to say but he will not be cowed into silence when he has something to say.
“Since he became the Senate President, he has not left his position on critical issues to conjecture. He has always stated his position clearly. More importantly, whatever he says always reflect his personal conviction and the position of the people he represents. And he does not begrudge anyone for holding a view contrary to his own. He realizes that, as the Yoruba would say, we cannot all sleep and lay our heads in the same direction.”
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), in their reaction, berated the National Assembly leadership and described them as “the worst-performing principal officers of the National Assembly in history of Nigeria.”
The Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, said it does not reckon with the National Assembly in the first instance, as having the moral right to amend what it called the fraudulent 1999 constitution, while the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) described the statement by Lawan and Gbajabiamila as ridiculous and irrational.
Former Governor of Awka Ibom State, Victor Attah, while opposing the views advanced by Lawan and Gbajabiamila, said he could not see the need for a national dialogue aimed at restructuring the country in the wake of secessionist agitations caused by the imbalance in Nigeria’s federal system and the growing wave of killings and other criminal attacks across the country.
It is unclear if the positions of Lawan and Gbajabiamila will affect the outcome of the already wobbling ongoing constitution review exercise. A Senate President and a Speaker of the House of Representatives, can frustrate any constitution review exercise if they’re opposed to it. The coming weeks and months will give a clearer picture if the positions of the two presiding officers will hold sway.