10th NASS: Agenda for Sen. Akpabio and Rt. Hon. Abbas By Farida Mohammed Umar
POLITICS DIGEST- Their journey to becoming the President of the 10th Senate, and Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives was tortuous, bumpy and rough. But they emerged unscathed, eventually.
The duo of Senator Godswill Akpabio and Rt. Hon. Tajuddeen Abbas perhaps, are still basking in the euphoria of their elections to steer the affairs of the 10th National Assembly, NASS. But the honeymoon should end soon. The assignment they will be executing is sheer daunting.
I am sure they are not ignorant of the tasks that await them. They need to, among several other things, reinvent the NASS. It is an institution whose two chambers are no longer considered to be hallowed, in the truest sense of the word.
Successive presiding officers of both the Senate and House of Representatives did little to make the Nigerian federal parliament an independent arm of government. In the eyes of the general public, the 9th NASS presided over by Senator Ahmed Lawan and Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, now the Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is an example of what shouldn’t be a parliament.
Though the immediate-past NASS of Lawan and Gbajabiamila may have recorded some legislative feats, it was no more than a rubber stamp, truth be told. The Assembly, often doesn’t objectively and painstakingly debate the bills, motions, loan requests and executive orders it received from the Executive, before passing them into law.
But thank God, the 9th Assembly had adjourned sine die, at its valedictory session. We will, and hope not to have a replica of it again – either now, or later. The Akpabio/Abbas 10th NASS must do everything possible to repose the confidence Mr. President, the All Progressives Congress, APC, and teeming Nigerians invested in them, prior to their emergence as President of the Senate and House Speaker.
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At their inaugurations on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, both Akpabio and Abbas vowed not to be a rubber stamp of the executive. It will be nice if they walk their talk. According to Akpabio, the Senate under him will engender effective oversight of the executive for responsive policies. Similarly, Speaker Abbas, promised that the 10th NASS would collaborate with the executive on the basis of upholding the principles of checks and balances as well as the principles of transparency, accountability and respect for the rule of law.
It is good to hear from the leadership of the NASS that it would assert its independence, warts and all. That is what Nigerians want to hear. The legislature, as an important arm of government, acts as a check on the excesses of the executive arm, by making laws and approving certain actions or policies of the executive.
I am certain both Senator Akpabio and Rt. Hon. Abbas, know that the legislative branch, in addition to its core lawmaking mandate, must maintain the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances. In that regard, they should be in the vanguard of helping the federal parliament maintain the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances, while relating with other arms of government, particularly the executive.
Equally, they must take very seriously their mandate to monitor how the funds they appropriate to the Executive and Judiciary are utilized. Doing so will ensure due process, transparency and accountability. They must, without being prodded by Nigerians, also do self-monitoring by ensuring that their own spending is open to public scrutiny. After all, they are at the NASS to represent the people, not themselves.
To add, Nigerians expect the 10th National Assembly to support the war against corruption, while also standing with the people by ensuring that the constitutional rights of every Nigerian are abused. They should diligently and thoroughly scrutinize every bill that is presented to them, with a view to passing laws that will be in the greatest interest of Nigerians. Furthermore, it is germane that they initiate and pass bills that will engender equity, fairness, justice and political inclusion in the distribution of offices and wealth of this nation.
Moreover, the oversight functions of the 10th NASS members, unlike their predecessors, should not be tied to pecuniary rewards. They should likewise tinker with the idea of slashing their humongous pay cuts, which appear obscene, when compared to that of other world legislatures.
It will show that they mean business with their legislative agenda, this time around. For Senator Godswill Akpabio and Rt. Hon. Tajuddeen Abbas, the ball is in their court. They have no choice, but to deliver on their electoral promises, amid the mountain of expectations by Nigerians. May the good Lord be their strength, and guide. Ameen!
Farida Mohammed Umar is a student of Nile University, and can be reached via: [email protected].
