One year after, 10th N’Assembly still playing ‘rubber stamp’ to executive

Godswill Akpabio and Abbas Tajudeen

Ahead of the 10th National Assembly resumption of legislative proceedings on July 2, IMOLEAYO OYEDEYI examines how the federal legislature has performed in one year given its constitutional responsibilities and legislative agenda

The 10th National Assembly is currently in recess. The Assembly was inaugurated on June 13, 2023, with Senator Godswill Akpabio and Abbas Tajudeen emerging as the Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives respectively after weeks of power play, horse-trading, alignments, and realignments.

While presiding over a plenary session on the floor of the Red Chamber on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, Akpabio said the 10th National Assembly would resume legislative proceedings on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, after a month recess.

He said the recess was to enable the lawmakers to participate in the activities marking the 2024 Democracy Day and the Senate’s end-of-session break.

Recall that in his inaugural speech upon his assumption of office in June, last year, Senator Akpabio had said the Senate under his watch would formulate laws for the wellbeing of all Nigerians and provide efficient oversight functions to the executive arm of the government.

He said in the discharge of its legal duties, the Senate would align with President BolaTinubu’s vision of fostering enviable developments of the country.

“Today marks a historic moment as we embark on a new chapter in the Senate. Distinguished Senators, today, I stand before you humbled, honoured, and filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude and responsibility as I acknowledge and accept your call to serve as the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Akpabio stated.

Speaking further, he said, “It is time now to go forward with the task set before us as a collective body – the promulgation of laws and enactments for the well-being and security of the country and as a check on the executive arm of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in our oversight functions. Together, we shall reach and surpass the expectations of the Nigerian people regarding us and our roles in building a better, safer, more inclusive, prosperous, efficient, and ethical country.”

“I am pleased, as I am sure that you too are, that we have in His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, a President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who is committed to a strong economy, national security, inclusion and the rule of law.

“We should, therefore, anticipate an executive that is pro-active, progressive, and practical. Our laws must, therefore, align with the vision of Mr President to protect and provide for our people at the innermost core of their essence while our actions must also guarantee the best and most efficient use of our national commonwealth. Government is a continuum, and the Senate is no less so,” the Senate President stated.

He added, “In all matters of national interest, we are enjoined to remember that we are first and foremost, distinguished senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, before our roles as representatives and members of our political parties.

“There is every reason to support good policies and programmes of the Federal Government, and I call on you to put this national interest first at all times. Our Senate will be a Senate for all of Nigeria. Together, we shall be greater than the sum of our political parties.”

Also speaking shortly after the 10th National Assembly was inaugurated, the Speaker, Tajudeen, said the legislative agenda of the Assembly would address the yearnings of Nigerians.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the House’ Ad Hoc Committee on Legislative Agenda in Abuja on Monday, July 24, 2023, the Speaker said the parliament was ready to welcome citizens’ participation in the efforts towards addressing the challenges facing the country.

He said, “Our desire is to have a legislative agenda that meets the yearnings and aspirations of citizens and with which they would use as a benchmark to evaluate and assess our performance after four years. Therefore, today’s meeting should not be seen as the usual talk-shop. Consider it a critical national assignment.

“There is no better way to show that the 10th House of Representatives is ready to respond, and urgently too, to the yearnings of those who brought us to the people’s House to do the people’s business,” he noted.

Under his leadership, Tajudeen said, “The House would pay priority attention to participatory budgeting process and delivery, law reform, electoral reform, women’s participation and inclusion in governance, improved socio-economic conditions, entrepreneurship, employment, health and education, infrastructure, citizens-focused diplomacy, institutional capacity and citizens engagement, constitutional amendment and restructuring, among others.”

However,  since Thursday, June 13, 2024, when the federal legislature clocked a year in office, observers have been keen to assess how far it has gone in fulfilling its constitutional obligations in terms of providing effective legislation, promulgating people-centred bills, exercising its well-enshrined legal independence and offering executive oversights, among others.

While some analysts have said the Akpabio-led 10th National Assembly hasn’t performed creditably well, especially given the fact that it has untowardly exhibited some of the defects that eroded the credibility of past legislative assemblies in the country, including being submissive to the dictates of the President, other observers feel a year is not enough to start measuring how far a legislative assembly has gone in discharging its legal responsibilities for the teeming masses.

Those of the latter school of thought argued that despite the corrupt-mindedness of the Nigerian political class, the current lopsided federal system and over-centralised constitutional framework being operational in the country would always make the clime very ungovernable and antithetical to developments for any set of leaders no matter how strong-willed they may be.

Meanwhile, the Senate recently said that in one year, its members had introduced about 477 bills while 25 of them had been passed.

The Senate leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, who disclosed this in a statement last Thursday in commemoration of the first anniversary of the 10th National Assembly, said the legislature over the years had focused on addressing other fundamental national priorities as mandated by the constitution.

Bamidele said, “Since its inauguration on June 13, 2023, the 10th Senate has introduced 477 bills. Of these, 25 have been fully enacted into law, while others are at various stages of the legislative process.”

The Senate leader added, “Despite the seemingly low percentage of fully passed bills — 5.24 per cent — the Senate’s focus has also been on addressing other fundamental national priorities as mandated by the constitution.

“In addition to legislative activities, the Senate has passed 115 resolutions of significant consequence to economic development and national stability. These resolutions stemmed from motions of national importance, sponsored by various senators after thorough consideration.”

The Senate leader, however, said that bills were not the only means to assess legislators. He said, “Many people may measure our performance based on the number of bills that were fully passed into law. Different reasons account for the low number of fully enacted legislations. This can be ascribed mainly to other issues of highly fundamental national priority that occupied the attention of the Senate.

“Put differently, it is purely due to the imperatives of attending to other obligations as required by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.”

The Senate leader also noted that in the last 366 days, the Senate had been strategically collaborating with key public institutions, “especially the executive arm, to defend our core interest as a federation; ensure macroeconomic stability; promote internal cohesion as well as foster unity among ethnic nationalities that constitute our dear nation.”

He added, “Like never before, we have been utterly committed to this national assignment to position our nation not just for more notable regional and sub-regional roles, but also for global leadership.

“Driven by this ambitious national aspiration convincingly scribbled in our revised legislative agenda, the Senate has adopted a strategic partnership approach aimed at building resilient synergy with other arms of government and nurturing a competitive, functional, and viable federation that works for all.

“Evident in all our parliamentary engagements, this has been our preoccupation since the inauguration of the 10th Senate as the foremost institution of representative democracy.”

Aside from the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution, the Senate said it initiated diverse processes with a clear and well-defined mandate.

The Senate leader noted, “From our observations so far, we are confident Nigeria is now more stable and the future of our Nation looks more promising than at any time in our recent history.

“As people of collective purpose, however, we are under obligations to support our governments, whether at the national or sub-national level, to build a resilient economy and an equitable federation that supports the aspiration of all its constituents.”

Aside from the promulgation of bills, Sunday PUNCH gathered that the Senate had also been active in addressing public concerns, having successfully resolved 50 public petitions in the last year.

During the same period, it also screened and confirmed 215 nominees for various political offices, including appointments to the Federal Executive Council, Central Bank of Nigeria, and leadership positions in the Armed Forces, Police, and other key agencies.

Despite the self-accolade the federal lawmakers have continued to pour on themselves, Nigerians will not forget in a hurry how the legislators got expensive Sport Utility Vehicles which were put at N160m each. While the country condemned the purchase of such expensive cars, the lawmakers received the gifts without blinking despite the economic hardship many were facing in the country.

Speaking to Sunday PUNCH, President of the National Political Scientists of Nigeria, Professor Hassan Saliu, of the University of Ilorin, said the lawmakers had performed averagely well, even though they still needed to do more in addressing the prevailing hardship in the country through effective legislation.

He said, “Based on what is going on in the country, one can know whether the 10th National Assembly has been performing its role well or not because the prevailing hardship in the country also requires legislative inputs. But are we getting those inputs? We all know that things are a little bit difficult in Nigeria. But I wouldn’t like to blame any particular government. I would rather prefer to blame the entire country for being negligent over the years. If we had been very alert to the issues and our responsibilities collectively, possibly the drivers that had driven us to this point would not have succeeded. We should blame ourselves for not being too vigilant over the years.”

Commenting on executive oversight functions expected of the legislative assembly, Prof Saliu said, “There are two or three models of legislative and executive relations. One is cooperative; the second is to be antagonistic, and the last one is to be moderate. But looking at it critically, in a legislature where you have its majority members coming from the ruling political party, those not from the ruling party will be more concerned about their welfare. Certainly, the picture will not be as clear as people would have wanted it to be. So, what I am saying is Akpabio has tried, but based on the facts on the ground, there is still more work for the Senate under him to do in solving the myriad of problems confronting Nigeria.”

He said in Nigeria, “We are often quick to blame our leaders, but sometimes, we don’t look at the environment. When you have members of the political class or political elite having virtually the same orientation, what do you expect to get from them? I was granted an interview in 2022 where I said that irrespective of whoever won the 2023 election, not much will change in Nigeria because the structure on the ground doesn’t promote development. Rather, it retards it. So, assessing the performance of the current National Assembly should be based on the reality on the ground.

“I believe that not until there is a progressive consensus among the masses, we may be moving around the same spot for long. This is because, from both sides of the masses and the lawmakers, we all need to reexamine our value system. After all, things are not working in Nigeria and we all must work collectively to change the status quo,” he added.

However, a public interest lawyer and human rights activist, Inibehe Effiong, said the current National Assembly had not performed positively in terms of fighting for the masses and protecting their interests against several unbearable policies that the current administration has launched in one year.

He stated, “The interests of the Nigerian people have not been prioritised. The focus so far has been personal aggrandisement and promoting a culture that appeases the President. The National Assembly members are acting as if they are Halleluyah boys of President Tinubu, as it is whatever he wants that they do. They don’t have a say. That is bad because we have not seen any attempt at checks and balances from the Assembly in the last year. I have not seen any significant investigation by these current National Assembly, either as a committee on a whole or an ad hoc committee.”

The lawyer noted that like what had been witnessed under the previous legislative assemblies, “the culture of budget padding is still going on, which is an embarrassment and very unfortunate,” and that the current legislature has not exercised its independence in any way.

“Oversight as I said has been very terrible. In terms of the passage of laws, I have not seen any largely major bill that the current Assembly has passed. No fundamental legislative reform has been undertaken. It is only to change the national anthem, and I think that is what they also see as an achievement. But I don’t know how the national anthem will affect the suffering that the Nigerian people are going through. I don’t know how the anthem will affect banditry and insecurity. So, for me, I will score the National Assembly below average,” he stated.

“I am not impressed by both the Senate and House of Representatives. They have performed poorly. They have not exercised their independence in any way. They have only convinced Nigerians that they will continue to remain stooges of the President. That’s why the President can do whatever he wants to do.

“He can obtain whatever loans he wants. He can introduce all sorts of obnoxious policies from the hike in electricity tariffs to the removal of fuel subsidy. For all the policies, we have not seen the National Assembly take a different position in favour of the Nigerian people. So, why should anybody commend them? There is nothing commendable about this National Assembly,” he added.

However, as the socio-economic challenges choking the country worsen daily, the question running through the minds of many Nigerians is how to get out of the quagmire. But only time will tell how far the poor masses can endure the pains before turning the heat on the 469 lawmakers they elected to represent them at the 10th legislative assembly.