9th NASS: Extension Of Executive Arm Of Government?

Less than two months to its two years, the 9th National Assembly, which was inaugurated on June 11, 2019, has carved a niche for itself, which has earned it the nomenclature of “rubberstamp and extension of the executive arm of government.”

The vibrancy that used to put the executive on edge has been put in abeyance, hanged on the wardrobe of party partisanship. No effort to check the essences of the executive by the National Assembly. Instead, like servants in the days of yore, the lawmakers are falling over themselves to please the executive at the detriment of the collective union of the nation.

There is nothing wrong for the National Assembly to have a cordial working relationship with the executive and also, there is nothing wrong to kill bills and motions deemed inimical to the wellbeing of this nation.

But, there is something fundamentally and terribly wrong when the National Assembly idolised the executive and do everything possible to please the Aso Rock.

Also, there is something very wrong when bills and motions, which otherwise would’ve benefitted and serve the interest of the nation are killed, trampled and frustrated on the alter of partisan politics.

The new trend in the National Assembly, our correspondent observed is killing of bills and motions that are seemed to be against the interest of the executive, the ruling party or a section of the country. But revise is the case when bills and motions favour these set of people.

Specifically, when the Bill for an Act to establish national livestock and management (protection control and management etc) Bureau for the purpose of livestock identification, traceable registration, cattle rustling control and for other related purposes, sponsored by Senator Bima Mohammed Enagi (APC, Niger South), came up last week, the debate took a regional line.

When a constitutional observation was raised, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan went ahead and did otherwise.

The Senate spokesperson, Ajibola Bashiru, had noted that no provision of the 1999 Constitution, as amended gives the National Assembly the powers to legislate on Livestock.

He said that no aspect of the Exclusive and Concurrent components of the Constitution gives the National the power to legislate on Livestock, noting that it is the state Houses of Assembly that have the power to do so.

Insisting that proceeding with the consideration and passage of the Bill will be unconstitutional, Bashiru said, “we have no power to legislate on this.”

Without citing any specific aspect of the Constitution to advance his argument, Senator Bala Ibn N’Allah from Kebbi state, argued that the National Assembly has the competency to legislate on the matter, adding that because Nigeria is federal in nature, the National Assembly has the power to legislate on issue of agriculture and that agriculture under a federal system is an issue of state and federal.

Ignoring the Constitutional argument, the President of the Senate, who presided over the plenary, ruled that the National Assembly has the power to legislate on issue of state, stressing that it was within his powers to interpret the Constitution and the Senate rules. He, however, ruled in favour of the passage for a second reading of the Bill.

As if this one was not enough burden, the Speaker of the House of Representatives had also last week shot down a motion demanding the resignation and the sack of Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, over allegation of affiliation with terrorist groups.

Since the issue came into the open, Nigerians have been calling for his sack, but party affiliation had stalled the moves to sack him. Even presidency has back him, pointing out that he had done nothing wrong.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, had on Wednesday ruled out the minority leader of the House, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, when the latter demanded the resignation of Pantami.

Moving a point of order, Elumelu had said the Minister should be sacked having owned up to taking extreme positions in the past, adding that Pantami doesn’t qualify to oversee the ministry of communications, which controls the database of Nigerians.

Gbajabiamila, had, however, overruled the minority leader, noting that Elumelu came under the matters of privileges and the matter raised had nothing to do with his privilege as a lawmaker.

The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have also argued that the motion by minority leader, Elumelu calling for the resignation of Pantami was properly presented.

Other issues abound in the National Assembly where motions and bills were killed just because they were against the interest of the ruling party, the executive and other interest at the detriment of the nation. But the bills and motions favoring these interested groups easily scale through when they are presented before the floor of both chambers.

Reacting to this development, a PDP stakeholder and the initiator, Trustee and Executive Secretary of the Centre for Alternative Policy Perspectives and Strategy (CAPPS), Dr. Umar Ardo, noted that everything has been politicized, adding that the trend has led to the collapse of the nation.

Speaking with our correspondent on this development, Dr. Ardo said, “It tells you that everything have been politicized. Things are not seen in their merits. Things are seen according to partisan interest. That’s what it means.

Asked what this aberration portend for the nation, the analyst and strategist said, “that is why the nation today has collapsed, we are on the floor. Are we not? People are now thinking of how to survive. Everyday we are burying people, we are running away from bandits, we are looking for money for ransome, we are weeping that our loved ones have been killed or property destroyed.

“This is where Nigeria is today. So if a government cannot protect lives and property, the entire government which ever government it is, has lost both moral and legal right to remain in office. That is the truth.”

Also speaking on this development, the Director, Public Affairs of Igbo Leadership Development Foundation (ILDF), Dr. Law Mefor, noted that National Assembly has never been a place for national integration.

Culled from Independent.ng