ANALYSIS
The Senate drew a battle line against Acting President Yemi
Osinbajo (SAN) yesterday. Henceforth, the hallowed chamber will not
honour any confirmation request from him. The Upper Chamber will
only have a re-think, if the Acting Chairman of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, is sacked.
Evidently, the Presidency will have to choose between fraternity
with the Senate or retaining Magu, who is believed to have stepped
on toes in the course of fighting graft.
Having fought President Muhammadu Buhari to a standstill, it is
now the turn of the Law professor to face the heat. Prof. Osinbajo
may have stirred the hornets net when he repudiated the Senate for
crossing its constitutional boundary in budget approval. Promptly,
senators were up in arm against him.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) midwifed the Presidency.
Also, the ruling party controls the majority in the Senate.
Therefore, it appears that the APC is at war with itself. But, the
legislative/executive war of attrition has implications beyond
party boundary. As the executive and legislature work at cross
purposes, Nigerians are the victims of the curious ego war.
The war even assumed another dimension on Tuesday. Senator
Abaribe provoked a debate on what could be described as an
imaginary power vacuum. He observed that, since President Buhari is
on medical leave abroad and the Acting President also jetted out to
Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, for a function, the mantle of
leadership should fall on Senate President Bukola Saraki.
The first implication is that there is no end in sight to the
Presidency/Senate rift. The frosty relationship has dragged on for
two years, following Saraki’s emergence as the head of the National
Assembly without the party’s backing. Yesterday’s tone of
parliamentary debate suggested that a perilous future lay ahead for
the beleaguered country. In a presidential democracy, when it
appears that the parliament has become an unwilling partner,
governmental activities may be crippled. The legislature is the
first and the most important organ of government. It is the body
that has its tap roots in the nooks and crannies of the country.
Therefore, it should be the anchor of popular rule. In the absence
of synergy between the two organs, there may be stagnancy.
In recent times, Nigeria’s experience has suggested a drift
towards that stagnancy. The gulf between the Presidency and the
Senate has become widened. Apart from Magu’s rejection by the
Senate twice, approval for presidential appointees have been denied
in the past before reason prevailed. Once, the Senate refused to
approve nominees for electoral jobs. Many have also pointed out
that the delay in passing the budget was due to lack of amity
between the two arms. There is mutual propaganda war in the media.
Worried by the lack of mutual trust and confidence, the APC
leadership brokered truce between the two arms of governance, but
without success.
According to observers, three factors are responsible for the
legislative/executive warfare. There is absence of party
discipline. The lack of discipline is attributed to the absence of
party supremacy. Also, the APC has revealed itself as a party of
strange ideological bedfellows. Its national leadership is weak and
cannot broker peace. Once party loyalty is doubtful, discipline
cannot be enforced.
The picture contrasted with the idea of party organisation in
the First and Second republics. What was in vogue was the national
party caucus. It was the most powerful organ of the party, held in
high esteem by the president, his deputy, the Senate President, the
Speaker of the House of Representatives (Yakubu Dogara), other top
party leaders. It was led by the national chairman of the party
(John Odigie-Oyegun). Many issues were debated and ratified at that
level before they are brought to the parliament for constitutional
approval. Grievances were also ventilated there. Once a decision
was taken, it was final. There was decorum. The party, executive
and National Assembly were on the same page.
Can the APC adopt this time-tested style? If not, how can the
legislature and the executive maintain cordial relations and steer
the ship of state from disaster? The presidency is likely to put
its feet down. A predictable resistance is expected from the
National Assembly. The country, which the presidency and the
senators claim to be working for, is the loser.
If the President has a people-oriented plan for turning the
country around, it should not be sacrificed on the altar of mutual
distrust. Also, the presidency should consult and moderate its
utterances and actions in utter sensitivity to the presence of a
combative National Assembly.
Will those in power ponder on the fate of the masses and
retrace their steps from their rigid positions?
By: Emmanuel Oladesu
Nation
ANALYSIS
The Senate drew a battle line against Acting President Yemi
Osinbajo (SAN) yesterday. Henceforth, the hallowed chamber will not
honour any confirmation request from him. The Upper Chamber will
only have a re-think, if the Acting Chairman of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, is sacked.
Evidently, the Presidency will have to choose between fraternity
with the Senate or retaining Magu, who is believed to have stepped
on toes in the course of fighting graft.
Having fought President Muhammadu Buhari to a standstill, it is
now the turn of the Law professor to face the heat. Prof. Osinbajo
may have stirred the hornets net when he repudiated the Senate for
crossing its constitutional boundary in budget approval. Promptly,
senators were up in arm against him.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) midwifed the Presidency.
Also, the ruling party controls the majority in the Senate.
Therefore, it appears that the APC is at war with itself. But, the
legislative/executive war of attrition has implications beyond
party boundary. As the executive and legislature work at cross
purposes, Nigerians are the victims of the curious ego war.
The war even assumed another dimension on Tuesday. Senator
Abaribe provoked a debate on what could be described as an
imaginary power vacuum. He observed that, since President Buhari is
on medical leave abroad and the Acting President also jetted out to
Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, for a function, the mantle of
leadership should fall on Senate President Bukola Saraki.
The first implication is that there is no end in sight to the
Presidency/Senate rift. The frosty relationship has dragged on for
two years, following Saraki’s emergence as the head of the National
Assembly without the party’s backing. Yesterday’s tone of
parliamentary debate suggested that a perilous future lay ahead for
the beleaguered country. In a presidential democracy, when it
appears that the parliament has become an unwilling partner,
governmental activities may be crippled. The legislature is the
first and the most important organ of government. It is the body
that has its tap roots in the nooks and crannies of the country.
Therefore, it should be the anchor of popular rule. In the absence
of synergy between the two organs, there may be stagnancy.
In recent times, Nigeria’s experience has suggested a drift
towards that stagnancy. The gulf between the Presidency and the
Senate has become widened. Apart from Magu’s rejection by the
Senate twice, approval for presidential appointees have been denied
in the past before reason prevailed. Once, the Senate refused to
approve nominees for electoral jobs. Many have also pointed out
that the delay in passing the budget was due to lack of amity
between the two arms. There is mutual propaganda war in the media.
Worried by the lack of mutual trust and confidence, the APC
leadership brokered truce between the two arms of governance, but
without success.
According to observers, three factors are responsible for the
legislative/executive warfare. There is absence of party
discipline. The lack of discipline is attributed to the absence of
party supremacy. Also, the APC has revealed itself as a party of
strange ideological bedfellows. Its national leadership is weak and
cannot broker peace. Once party loyalty is doubtful, discipline
cannot be enforced.
The picture contrasted with the idea of party organisation in
the First and Second republics. What was in vogue was the national
party caucus. It was the most powerful organ of the party, held in
high esteem by the president, his deputy, the Senate President, the
Speaker of the House of Representatives (Yakubu Dogara), other top
party leaders. It was led by the national chairman of the party
(John Odigie-Oyegun). Many issues were debated and ratified at that
level before they are brought to the parliament for constitutional
approval. Grievances were also ventilated there. Once a decision
was taken, it was final. There was decorum. The party, executive
and National Assembly were on the same page.
Can the APC adopt this time-tested style? If not, how can the
legislature and the executive maintain cordial relations and steer
the ship of state from disaster? The presidency is likely to put
its feet down. A predictable resistance is expected from the
National Assembly. The country, which the presidency and the
senators claim to be working for, is the loser.
If the President has a people-oriented plan for turning the
country around, it should not be sacrificed on the altar of mutual
distrust. Also, the presidency should consult and moderate its
utterances and actions in utter sensitivity to the presence of a
combative National Assembly.
Will those in power ponder on the fate of the masses and
retrace their steps from their rigid positions?
By: Emmanuel Oladesu
Nation
Read more https://nairalaw.com/whats-the-senate-up-to/