“Nigeria’s National Assembly Falls Below Expectation”  – Fmr Senate President, Saraki

By Ayodele Oni

Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki has observed that the National Assembly is gradually becoming a shadow of what a virile and effective parliament should be.

This was contained in a statement he was billed to read as one of the speakers during the joint sitting of the national assembly to commemorate democracy day, but later released to the media.

Saraki blamed the Executive and Judiciary for the drifting saying “I am convinced that this is not only the fault of the legislature and its leadership. The executive and judiciary have consistently played key role.

“We owe it a duty to those who fought for the present democracy that we have and the future generations of Nigeria that will come after us to make the parliamentary institution stronger and more efficient.

“Today, we seem to be drifting backwards. And we don’t have to go far to find the reason for this sad development. I am convinced that this is not only the fault of the legislature and its leadership.

“The Executive and Judiciary have consistently played key roles in undermining and weakening the National Assembly.

“From interference in its choice of leadership, misunderstanding its oversight role, and taking its occasional ‘No’ as being antagonistic, the National Assembly has often come under unwarranted and systemic attack.

“I want to make a strong appeal to all of us that we need to consciously work hard to make this institution strong and vibrant.

“We all need to realise that by its nature, its role and character, the parliament is created to say the truth to power and scrutinize what the executive is doing.

“Sometimes, it will agree with the executive actions and proposals. Other times, it may disagree. One good thing is that its agreement or disagreement should always be in the protection of national interest not that of personal or partisan interest.

“The National Assembly should continue to be open to the people who have grievances or opinions on issues to ventilate their views, whether rational, irrational, positive, or sometimes, negative.

“One of the tenets of democracy is the multiplicity of opinions, freely expressed. If the National Assembly is made helpless and hopeless to the extent that the people cannot find succour there, then they will be left with no option but to run to the streets. And this is dangerous for our democracy.

“My fifth point is that another way to look at the importance of the National Assembly as the embodiment of our democracy is that the parliament is naturally designed to promote multi-party democracy.

“The parliamentary culture is so designed that the voting system is ‘AYE’ and ‘NAY’. It is not expected to be one-sided, one party, and one way. It is part of the parliamentary ethos to have the majority and minority votes on any issue.

“These are indications of different political parties in parliament. While the majority have their way, the minority must have their say. The minority view as represented by the opposition parties is what makes a functional democracy. We need to take note of the significance of that point.”