It’s About Time
On Wednesday last week, President Muhammadu Buhari set up a committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to resolve the fractious relationship between the executive and the legislature. All ministers who were former senators are members of the committee. They are Labour Minister Dr. Chris Ngige, Udoma Udoma [Budget and National Planning], Heineken Lokpobiri [Minister […]
On Wednesday last week, President Muhammadu Buhari set up a committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to resolve the fractious relationship between the executive and the legislature. All ministers who were former senators are members of the committee. They are Labour Minister Dr. Chris Ngige, Udoma Udoma [Budget and National Planning], Heineken Lokpobiri [Minister of State, Agriculture], Hadi Sirika [Minister of State for Aviation] and Aisha Alhassan [Women Affairs]. Senior Special Assistants to the President on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang [Senate] and Kawu Sumaila [House of Representatives] are also members.
Soon after the cabinet meeting ended, the committee members met in Osinbajo’s office to plan for the all-important assignment. Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the cabinet had expressed concern over the strained relationship between the executive and the Senate in particular. He said, “The executive is also concerned that the relationship between the two arms of government is not as smooth as it is supposed to be. In any democracy, it is a continuous struggle for balancing between the executive and the legislature because each of them is a creature of the law. must strive at all times to ensure that there is that balance, amity and smooth relationship.”
We welcome this move on the part of the Presidency to seek an end to the cat and mouse game between the two powerful branches of the Federal Government that has thrown the country off track in addressing major issues of governance and citizen’s welfare. In our Page Three Comment of last Sunday, March 26, 2017 titled Between Presidency and Senate, we said among other things that, “The Constitution of the federal Republic 1999….” Among other casualties of this fight was Senate’s recent decision to hold off the confirmation for two weeks of 27 nominees for Resident Electoral Commissioners [RECs] of the Independent National Electoral Commission. The crisis could also get worse because the president has nominated two new ministers from Gombe and Kogi states to fill vacant slots in the federal cabinet. These two could get caught up in the conflict unless a quick resolution is found.
Even though we welcome this effort, we do not consider it to be ideal. Matters should never have been allowed to deteriorate to a level where a committee is needed to seek amity between the Presidency and National Assembly, especially when both are controlled by the same political party, APC. We could argue until the cows come home as to whose fault it is that matters came to this level but that will not solve the problem. Some Nigerians are even calling for a referendum to abolish the Senate, which they think is to blame, but the Constitution cannot be amended through a referendum.
Where does Osinbajo’s committee begin this assignment? A Daily Trust report last Thursday quoted a ranking senator “who is close to the Senate leadership” as having identified five conditions for peace between the executive and the legislature. They might be difficult pills for the Buhari presidency to swallow but provided the Senate leadership confirms what this senator said, Osinbajo’s committee must start by examining these five demands. The first one is that Senate President Bukola Saraki’s trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal for false declaration of assets must be ended. If handled crudely, such a move would morally jeopardise the administration’s anti-corruption campaign but the senators see no problem here because they believe that this case was politically motivated in the first place.
Other issues that the senator listed include an end to factions within the presidency itself, which use the Senate to fight each other; respect for Senate resolutions by ministers and other heads of executive agencies; “urgent need for the president to engage the leadership of the APC for proper coordination of the party’s caucus at the Senate; and “interpersonal communication between the senators and the president.”
Over the years there is often needless tension and push and pull when the National Assembly committees seek the appearance of ministers or agency heads to explain one thing or another. Ministers and agency heads believe that MPs are being too intrusive and not altogether altruistic in their oversight functions, otherwise the Assembly’s constitutional power to summon any official, in fact any citizen to give testimony should be respected. The issue of National Assembly resolution also needs a careful understanding. Although a resolution is not law, ministers and agency heads should not contemptuously ignore them, such as the Nigeria Customs Service did to the Senate resolution asking it to put on hold its plan to collect back duty on all Nigerian vehicles.
Some of the other issues raised by the senator, such as bringing an end to factions in the presidency, were probably thrown in just to pass the buck back to the executive. The senator had in mind the Magu case, in which a man was nominated by the president for confirmation as EFCC chairman but the Department of State Services [DSS] sent a damning report to shoot down the nomination, allegedly for reasons of power play. This is more of a problem for the presidency and the Senate need not be caught up in that if it does its own duties properly and with good conscience.
In the end, common ground should be found with the realisation that no branch of government could do without the others, that cooperation serves everyone’s interest including the hapless citizens who elected both into office. It is for this reason that we urge Osinbajo’s committee to move fast on thus assignment and we urge leaders on both sides to find a place in their hearts to admit to mistakes and seek a permanent settlement in the interest of the country.