The second term administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is fully constituted now. Although his government has not taken off yet due to the absence of ministers and other members of the Federal Executive Council, yet with the inauguration of the National Assembly this week, the full complement of the three arms of government have come to stay. The focus is not necessarily the executive or the presidency as the case may be, however it is to highlight the significance of a collaborative triumvirate namely: the legislature, executive and the judiciary. The judiciary had suffered its own turbulence months ago, but calm appears to have returned to the highest echelons of our judicial arm.
The election of presiding officers of the 9th Assembly brought to the end several months of intense lobbying, campaigns, cajoling and horse trading. Dr. Ahmed Lawan from Yobe North emerged as President of the Senate, while Femi Gbajabiamila of Surulere I Federal constituency was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. Also elected were the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege and Deputy Speaker Ahmad Wase. Both chambers will go ahead to announce other leaders of each chamber: Leader, deputy leader, Minority leader, deputy minority leader, chief whip, deputy chief whip, minority whip and deputy minority whip respectively. Later the constitution of standing and adhoc committees shall commence.
In the last couple of years, the All Progressives Congress, APC had lamented how it failed to meet the aspirations of Nigerians because the National Assembly did not elect as its leaders those it preferred. The party and even the president stated that non election of its preferred candidates affected its capacity to perform optimally. Good a thing, this time, all elected presiding officers are the nominees of the ruling party. All four presiding officers are the preferred choices of the president. We are eagerly awaiting what new efforts the administration will make. It is good that things turned out this way. We support those who have been elected. It tallied with the sentiments of the ruling party and its members; therefore we do not expect any poor performance.
As things are, we call on the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to sit back and play its role accordingly. They are not opposition for the sake of it. They are opposition to put pressure on the ruling party to do well or give way. There is no need to attempt to be part of a government you did not win a majority. It is better you allow them run their show so that you can be in a good position to air your views openly not shouting under the anonymous label of “inclusion” or “disruptive” politics. The new leaders of the National Assembly are hereby charged to be reasonable in their relationship with all and sundry. Their success will depend largely on the open-mindedness they bring to their daily activities.
The 8th Assembly has already set the marker. Their job is well cut out. With well over 350 bills passed by both chambers, this is the most fecund assembly since 1959. We shall see how well or how productive the just inaugurated assembly shall be. The masses are desirous of new thinking. They want new laws that will help solve grave problems like insecurity, poverty and inclusion. The legislature has a role in helping to solve problems. They can legislate a border patrol corps for example. We have issues with our very porous borders which can be half solved if we do something about border patrol. The other day, Aliko Dangote lamented the clear danger with Benin Republic as a neighbor. No question about that. That country is now a transit centre for the smuggling of rice into Nigeria. Pakistan, China and some other countries’ nationals have camped there to ensure a thriving smuggling cartel. We need a border patrol.
We also need the NASS to be a bit more open. We need the so called constituency project to be more open and its execution more accountable. We also crave for our legislators to evolve a more responsible oversight capacity. We also need good representation. We need to see that our representatives are open to their constituents to take petitions, attend to community issues and project our voices. This can be done and the time to start is now.
