EDITORIAL: Legislators Must Put The Executive On Its Toes

Recently, at an event hosted by spokespersons of senators in Abuja to mark the 62nd birthday of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, the majority leader of the upper legislative chamber, Opeyemi Bamidele, revealed what many Nigerians had already suspected.

Bamidele disclosed that President Bola Tinubu was not having sleepless nights because Akpabio was the president of the senate! “I know one of the reasons he (Tinubu) is able to sleep well is because he has you (Akpabio) as the president of the senate,” he said while commending Akpabio

He added, “He trusts you. He depends on you. Mr. President of the Senate, we are all very proud of you. I’m standing with my colleagues. I’m always privileged to speak on their behalf, and I know I’m not saying anything other than what they expect me to say.

“We are very proud of you. We just want to thank you for who you are, and we want to thank you for the kind of leadership that you provide.”

While Bamidele’s intention was obviously to commend Akpabio for ensuring a harmonious working relationship with the executive arm of government, the message sent to members of the public was that the Senate does the bidding of the president.

It must be noted that in a democracy, the legislature and the executive are expected to work together for good governance. The legislature is not expected to constitute itself into an opposition against the executive or to become a stooge for the executive.

The constitutional role of the legislature is primarily to make laws for peace, order, and good governance of the country. This is contained in Section 4(2-4) of the 1999 constitution. The constitution also appropriates the power to determine the spending of public funds to the National Assembly.

According to Section 80 of the Constitution, all revenue or monies raised or received by the Federal Government must be paid into a Consolidated Revenue Fund for the Federation except where it is for a specific purpose. Thus, monies from the fund can only be used for expenditure charged upon it by the constitution or where the Appropriation or Supplementary Appropriation Act promulgated by the National Assembly had authorised such.

In a country with a history of reckless leaders, especially in the recent past, the National Assembly ought to give hope to the people that their trust is not being abused. The legislature is expected to diligently oversight public spending to ensure the executive is not squandering the commonwealth. In that sense, the legislature is supposed to be a check on the executive to ensure good governance.

This role pre-supposes that a mutually respectful relationship should exist between the two arms of the government, without one being seen as subservient to the other. The two must work together in the interest of the people and Nigeria.

Bamidele’s revelation is a public endorsement and announcement that Tinubu’s administration is doing everything right and can not be queried. That is why the president can go to sleep knowing that anything he sends to NASS will sail through because Akpabio is the president of the senate.

Such talks are reckless and show disrespect for Nigerians who have always seen the NASS as an appendage of the presidency. It is not the job of the legislature to make the president sleep well. They are supposed to make the president sit up at all times.

Metaphorically, no president should be sleeping where there is an independent legislature. Only a docile legislature makes a president sleep because, predictably, it does the president’s bidding.

EDITORIAL: Legislators Must Put The Executive On Its Toes is first published on The Whistler Newspaper