Politics
Nigeria’s political turbulence and financial crisis in the last few months revealed the weakness of the nation’s legislature. And as Nigerians are about going through another perpetual cycles of hope and despair, it is imperative to reform this arm of government in order to guarantee its independence and ensure greater focus on governance by the executive arm of government.
By Goddy Ikeh
DESPITE the claims by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, that it performed better than any other administration in the country’s recent history, its poor approval rating and even lame performance in the presidential and general elections did not align with the opinions of the general public. Some political analysts have described the eight years of the administration as “locust years” and have unfavourable opinions on the scorecard of the administration.
There is at least a fighting chance that the 9th National Assembly has not been ranked differently as it had been described severally as an arm of the executive and a rubberstamp of the executive. While the scramble for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly is heating up amid a divided and broken nation battling with extreme macroeconomic challenges, galloping inflation, currency depreciation, foreign exchange illiquidity, high energy cost, heightened insecurity, weakening purchasing power and structural bottlenecks, it is instructive to ensure that this search for the leadership of the National Assembly is done with all sense of fairness, equity and patriotism.
Although there was no record of chair throwing and no object throwing during the sessions, but the lawmakers will not shield themselves from any form of blames for the poor performance of the executive arm and the administration since most of the bills were approved by the lawmakers, especially the bills that resulted in the nation’s huge domestic and foreign debts. And despite the opposition to the controversial request by President Buhari in 2022 to restructure the N23.7 trillion loan, which the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, extended to the Federal Government under its Ways and Means, the Senate and the House of Representatives have approved the request.
Presenting the report at the Committee of the Whole on Thursday, May 4, 2023, the House passed a resolution to approve the securitisation of the total outstanding loans with 40 years tenor and a Moratorium on Principal Repayment of three years and pricing/interest rate of 9 per cent per annum.
Nigerians are therefore expecting a more vibrant and accountable National Assembly that will not approve every bill from the executive in the guise of maintaining a supportive and cordial relations with the executive arm of the government. For instance, Nigerians have observed the lapses in the two celebrated bills of the lawmakers, which were signed into law – Electoral Act and the Petroleum Industry Act. Already, the amended electoral law failed the first test as it produced the flawed 2023 polls, while the full implementation of the PIA is yet to take effect fully despite the drama that attended its passage.
And to ensure that the emergence of an effective and accountable National Assembly, many lawmakers and stakeholders have suggested the adoption of the zoning formula, while others are calling for a consensus candidate. While the ruling APC is yet to formally declare its preference, many lawmakers have signaled their interests to run for the post of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, while others are seeking for the other positions in the National Assembly.
Recently, the media have been inundated with the campaigns of various interest groups canvassing for support for their candidates, while some of the candidates have embarked on unsolicited pilgrimage to Aso Rock to seek for support from the presidency. Although it is not quite clear as at now to put a figure on the number of aspirants as new faces appear to be showing up daily for the position of the Senate President. However, about 10 Senators are known to have indicated interest in becoming the Senate President, while about 12 House of Representatives members are contending for the Speakership of the House. But some of the known aspirants include, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, Senator Osita Izunaso from the South East and Senator Godswill Akpabio from the South South. They are also Senator Senator Ali Ndume from the North East, Senator Sani Musa from the Niger East among others.
Meanwhile, the Coalition of Civil Society Organization for Peace and Unity of Nigeria, CCSOPUN, has advocated for a Senate President from the South-East to promote fairness, equity, justice and balance for peace and unity of Nigeria.
Onwubuya Breakforth, Chairman of the Coalition, said after its recent meeting on the “10th National Assembly Leadership” issues and prospects in Abuja, that the South East was being treated unfairly and unjustly in the political equation of the country. According to him, from 1999 till date, the South East has been denied the presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the South West produced the President from 1999-2007, North-West 2007 to 2011, South-South from 2011 to 2015, North-West again 2015 to 2023.
“For the Vice President, North East has produced the vice president from 1999 to 2007, South–South 2007 to 2011 and North-East 2011 to 2015 and South-West 2015 to 2023. Now 2023 should have been the turn of the South-East to produce the President of Nigeria, but the ongoing events now showed that South-West again has the President and North-East has the Vice President.
“The question is, where is the South-East in all this political equation? Where is fairness? Where is equity? Where is brotherhood? Where is justice? Where is one nation?
“To this end, we sincerely plead with all National Leaders, Political Fathers and elites, the Leadership of APC, PDP, LP, APGA, SDP, YPP and all elected Senators to stand for truth, justice, equity and cohesion.
“To support the candidates for South-East to emerge as Senate President that will in a long way heal our divisions, agitations, and discourage any act of national insubordination,” Breakforth said, adding that the South-East Presidency will help discourage continuous agitations like IPOB, and others in the South-East.
In his remarks, Salisu Abdullahi, Pan African Youth, noted that the most important thing for all Nigerians was the unity of the nation. “The beginning of the crisis in Sudan started because of injustice so we believe that in order for Nigeria to avoid that crisis, there must be justice for the Southeast,” he said.
And Bello Osaretin, director general, Progressive Leaders Association of Nigeria, PLAN-Nigeria, commended the Coalition for putting up this initiative on the importance of equity.
“It is very important that everyone is put forth in order to have a balanced and more peaceful country,” Osaretin said.
Stating its position on the leadership of the National Assembly, the Forum of former House of Representatives members, who are now senators-elect, says the group has not endorsed any candidate for the position of President of the Senate.
The Convener of the group and Senator-elect, Ahmed Wadada, told newsmen after a meeting with members of the forum in Abuja recently that the forum was yet to declare its support for any candidate.
He said there was no discussion whatsoever about anybody’s candidature yet. When we get to the bridge we will cross it,” he said.
According to him, the group has 26 members in the forum and “it is a good bloc for us to come together with that sportsmanship we had at different times while in the House of Representatives for the development of the country”.
“We are getting rejuvenated for the good of Nigeria,” Wadada was quoted as saying by local media reports.
In addition, a pro-democracy group, the Natives, has urged the leadership of the APC to ensure that only capable hands are appointed to key positions by the incoming administration, including the National Assembly. The leader of the group, Olalekan Edwards, said this when the team visited the APC National Chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, in Abuja. Similarly, the Coalition of Northern Front, South-West Professionals and Arewa Youth Groups has called on the APC leadership to choose a Speaker ‘’with reputation and experience.’’ Tijjani Abdulmumuni, President of the Arewa Youth Group, said that they were in support of a lawmaker from the South-East for the sake of equity. He, however, said whoever the party would support from the region, should be someone with high moral standards and experience.
Meanwhile, the APC has said it has not zoned the National Assembly positions. In a statement by its spokesman, Felix Morka, the party said: ‘’The attention of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has been drawn to versions of zoning arrangements for the 10th National Assembly leadership positions in circulation in sections of the social media. The information did not emanate from the party and should be disregarded. “To be clear, the party has yet to zone positions of leadership of the 10th National Assembly. Any decisions made in that regard will be duly communicated via the party’s official information channels,’’ he added.
Already, there are indications that the APC is supporting a Senator for the post of the Senate President. According to the governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, the President-elect Bola Tinubu, has asked him to drop his ambition and support Senator Godswill Akpabio from South South. In the same vein, Senator Ali Ndume, who had earlier indicated interest in contesting for the position, has also withdrawn from the race since Tinubu has declared his support for Senator Akpabio.
“I am in the race if the ticket is left open, but if it is zoned outside of my zone, I will abide by the party’s decision if it is fair.
“Like I have always said if the party comes out with its zoning and it is fair because everybody should belong,” Senator Ndume had said, adding that in the leadership of the National Assembly equity should not be the priority, the usual priority in most democratic practices is seniority.
“We will wait for the decision of the party if they decide that fairness should be a priority in terms of the representation of zones, which is a fair thing to consider. Outside of that, the best thing is to leave the race open,” he said earlier before the latest development in May.
In spite of the preference for Senator Akpabio, many aspirants and other APC legislators appear to favour the adoption of the zoning formula in the selection of the leadership of the National Assembly. Some of the aspirants include the senator representing Niger East, Sani Musa, who stated that it is only fair that the party should zone rather than pick a consensus candidate.
“The party should let the leadership be zoned to a particular place and let the lawmakers decide who they like to be their leaders among the aspirants,” he said.
But the APC Deputy National Organising Secretary, Chidi Duru, however, said that the National Working Committee of the party had not met to take a position on the zoning of the principal offices in both chambers, including talks on consensus candidates being reported in a section of the media.
“No decision has been taken on the zoning or who will be the preferred candidates of the party. At least, not to my knowledge. I can confidently tell you that there has been no meeting of the NWC in the last weeks,’’ he said.
But the lawmakers, who called for fairness and equity in the distribution of offices and positions, noted their willingness to abide by the decisions of the party on the 10th National Assembly leadership.
As race for leadership of the National Assembly continues, some political analysts have stated that it is not absolutely right to think that the party with the majority in the National Assembly should produce the President and the Speaker respectively as was the case in the 9th Assembly. And that if any lesson has to be learnt from the poor scorecard of the 9th Assembly, it is that the nation needs an independent, dynamic and accountable legislature in order to deepen the nation’s democracy. According to them, the nation can no longer put up with a weak, toothless and ineffective National Assembly, while Nigerians are daily agonizing and yelling for a national rebirth, restructuring of the country and healing the divided and broken nation.
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Tags: Ahmed Wadada All Progressives Congress Sen. Abdullahi Adamu Senator Godswill Akpabio Senator Orji Uzor Kalu Senator Osita Izunaso Senator Senator Ali Ndume
