Executive/legislature feud unnecessary — Shekarau

Aformer governor of Kano State, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, has said that the lingering disagreement between the executive and legislative arms of government is unnecessary.

In an exclusive interview with Daily Trust, Shekarau blamed the executive arm of government for the current face-off.

He said, “In democracy, you have the world of consultation, especially between the executive and legislative arms of government. The disagreement between the executive and the National Assembly, 90 per cent of the blame, I place it on the doorstep of the president. I had 40 members of the state assembly when I was a governor, but there was no time I sent a bill, proposal and or nomination to the state assembly without discussing it with them outside the chambers.

“I always call all of them, including those from the opposition party to discuss things related to governance. In fact, I prepare the budget along with them. This is how the president should relate with members of the National Assembly. The legislature will feel they are being respected and will work with the presidency in a very cordial manner.

“I am sure the number of principal officers of the National Assembly may not be up to 50. You don’t have to call all of them. You can sit, eat and drink with them and then go into the business by bringing out the budget, discussing it with them and making the necessary adjustments. You lobby them and they lobby you. You are working for Nigerians.”

Shekarau also rated President Muhammadu Buhari’s performance within his two years in office as below average.

The former education minister, however, lauded the president’s feat in the area of security.

He said Nigerians expected the president to appoint ministers as soon as he assumed office, but it took Buhari several months to do so.

The former governor said government would not achieve any success on the security challenges if it failed to address issues concerning the welfare of the security agencies.

“So, I can give credit to Buhari for his concern on security and corruption issues and I am not surprised because that is his training. So, as far as security issue is concerned, he is doing his best. But of course, there are certain areas that need to be attended to otherwise any day he leaves, we will go back to where we were before,” he also said.

He sought for justice in the fight against corruption, saying those identified as corrupt people should also be treated justly.

Shekarau said provision of security and fight against corruption were ingredients of good governance.