To many Nigerians, the actions of the Ninth National Assembly within the last three years, with regard to express approval of executive requests, more or less shows that it is a ‘rubber stamp’ to the executive arm of government

Speaking on this, the Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani, said, “In some of the places that members of the National Assembly are supposed to go and carry out oversight functions a lot of concerns are brought up.

“You cannot go to the oversight of an agency and it is that agency that will give you transport, that will give you what they called sitting allowances and so on. You have already compromised the essence of such oversight. The Assembly has a huge amount of resources at their disposal, why are they relying on the agencies for these allowances.”

While speaking with THEWILL, Constitutional Lawyer, Dr Olukayode Ajulo, said, “I did some consultancy as well as represented the National Assembly in some constitutional cases. Therefore, I cannot be seen to give an objective assessment of the Ninth National Assembly.

“However I say this as a fact that the leadership of the Assembly places a premium in doing whatsoever is done in accordance with the law. This has ensured that the National Assembly is properly guided at all times, hence the continued affirmation of every step that it has taken.”

With less than a year to the end of the tenure of the Assembly and while the politics gets thicker, it is the hope of Nigerians that the legislature will grow the country’s democracy to a proper oversight and ensure accountability.

The Ninth National Assembly under the leadership of Lawan was, in collaboration with the executive arm of government, able to revert the yearly budget cycle to January – December as against June – May yearly cycle in the past.

It has also successfully amended and passed the Deep Off-Shore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act Cap D3LFN 2004 (Amendment Bill 2009), which was specifically geared towards increasing collectable revenues from the proceeds of crude oil sales.

There are also many other development focused legislations aimed at boosting the national economy, such as the Public Procurement 2007 (amendment) bill 2019 , Companies and Allied Matters Act, Cap C20 LFN 2004 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill 2019 etc, which were passed and assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Senate under Lawan’s leadership in the last three years and by extension, that of the National Assembly, has projected the legislative arm of government in Nigeria as the stabilising factor required in governance at the centre and it has been the face of a working democracy as against the rancorous and antagonistic one which characterised our polity in the recent past.

Ahmad Lawan, in a speech delivered during the special session last year, said a total of 742 bills were introduced by the Ninth Senate in the last two years.

According to him, out of the total number of bills introduced during the two sessions of the Assembly, 58 have been passed, while 355 bills have gone through first reading.

The Senate President further disclosed that 175 bills have also gone through second reading and have been referred to the relevant committee for further legislative business; with 11 bills referred by the House of Representatives for concurrence all passed.

According to him, “the bills cut across all the sectors and touch most areas of needs in the lives of our citizens.”

Lawan recalled that the Ninth National Assembly in its bid to rescue the nation's economy, embarked on the restoration of Nigeria’s budget cycle to the January to December timeline.

The move, according to him, brought about positive outcomes which made the country’s fiscal plans more predictable and boosted investors’ confidence.

He added that the passage of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act 2004 (Amendment Bill, 2009) was intended to increase Nigeria’s share of revenue from crude oil.

“Other laws that we passed that are having significant impacts on the economy include the Finance Bill 2019 (Nigeria Tax and Fiscal Law) (SB.140), which amended seven existing tax laws.

“In our Legislative Agenda, we had also promised to create a legal environment conducive for ease of doing business.

“We kept this promise by passing the Companies and Allied Matters Act, Cap C20 LFN 2004 (Repeal and Reenactment) Bill 2019 (SB.270),”Lawan said.

The Senate President assured that the upper chamber would, finally this month (June), pass the Petroleum Industry Bill after about 20 years of failed attempts.”

Many Nigerians believe that while the assembly may be given a pass mark in the law-making duty, it has failed in its performance of oversight function.

To many Nigerians, the actions of the Ninth National Assembly within the last three years, with regard to express approval of executive requests, more or less shows that it is a ‘rubber stamp’ to the executive arm of government.

Nigerians who belong to this school of thought came to the fore last year, during the one-day group focused discussions on citizens’ expectations from the Ninth National Assembly held at the temporary site of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies ( NILDS) in Abuja.

Speaking at the occasion, the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Abuja Chapter, Dr Kassim Umar, cautioned the leadership of the National Assembly on ‘the same page relationship’ it is running with the executive arm of government, since the three arms of government in a presidential democracy are meant to serve as check on one another.

“Harmonious working relationship among the three arms of government and in particular, between the Legislature and the Executive in a presidential democracy like Nigeria is a welcome development, but taking it to the realm of subservience by being on the same page with the executive on all issues is dangerous for good governance.

“In the light of this, Nigerians will want the Ninth National Assembly to be more assertive, thorough and resolute in exercising its constitutional duties as regards approval of proposals from the executive arm of government so as not to be seen as a rubber stamp and invariably creating a perception problem for itself.

“Effective oversight functions on the two other arms of government by the National Assembly is highly expected from them by Nigerians, which will go a long way in taking off whatever toga of rubber stamp many critics have put on them, ” he said.

Despite this perception by many Nigerians, the Ninth National Assembly strongly believes that a harmonious working relationship with the executive and the attendant ‘rubber stamp’ appellation is far better than frictional ones of the past, which yielded Nigerians and Nigeria nothing in terms of good governance.

Reacting to the rubber-stamp perception, Gbajabiamila said, “People, critics and members of other parties have said the Ninth Assembly is a rubber stamp of the executive. They may have told you that, too. You know what? It is better to be a rubber stamp and bring progress, than fight the executive without progress because when two elephants fight, the grass suffers.

“The fact is that the National Assembly is not a rubber stamp. This is a National Assembly that represents the interests of the people. The people of Surulere did not elect me to fight the executive, but to engage and collaborate with stakeholders to bring the dividends of democracy.

“This is a new dispensation. There will be checks and balances. There will be separation of powers. We will agree with the executive if we have to, and we will disagree if we have to. Our watchword is to protect the interests of the Nigerian people. That is the oath that my colleagues and I swore to.”

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, had recently declared that the path chosen by the Ninth National Assembly to work in harmony with the Executive arm of government has benefitted Nigeria and Nigerians in so many ways through series of bills passed and assented to by the President and very important ones being worked upon with the hope and assurances of being assented to by the President, when transmitted to him for that purpose.

Viewed from different angles, one will agree that the Ninth National Assembly’s cordial relationship with the executive in the last three years has brought more progress and stability to the polity.

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