Saving National Assembly from itself

If there is a time when prevailing circumstances dictate a reinvention of the nation’s legislature and in particular the National Assembly as the index factor, that time is now. Along with the task of discharging its constitutional function of providing the framework for building consensus among the country’s disparate constituent communities, among whom one kilometer means another language (courtesy of Nigerian singer Edna Ogholi), the establishment has in recent times been contending with matters that have not placed it in proper light before the Nigerian public.
Within just a fortnight the establishment witnessed at least two campaigns of attrition with a combined intensity that equaled an orchestrated assault by all the demons in hell let loose with the singular mission – bring the National Assembly down! In one vein was the drama associated with the alleged use of forged Standing Rules of the Senate during the election of its presiding officers Senators Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu on June 9, 2015. At the last count the duo are expected to feature in an unprecedented scene in the annals of the nation’s legislative space, by appearing in the dock alongside the outgoing Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA) Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa and the Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly (DCNA), who are already facing trial before an Abuja High Court over the issue. But time changes everything, as popular wisdom holds.
In another vein is the weighty allegation of engaging in acts of sexual impropriety in the United States of America, levelled against some members of the House of Representatives in a letter to the House by the Ambassador of that country to Nigeria Mr James F. Entwistle. A matter that reportedly occurred several months ago when the affected members were in Cleveland Ohio State in the US for a program, suddenly gained fresh life and impetus just as the Senate issue was evolving. It is significant that the affected members have denied the allegation while the Green Chamber has ordered a full scale investigation into the issue thereby rendering it an unfinished business.
Meanwhile before these flash storms, there is the lingering issue of the trial of the President of the Senate at the Code of Conduct Tribunal; a dispensation which has effectively vitiated the expected vibrancy and assertiveness of the Red Chamber with respect to its service delivery obligations. As the African proverb holds that when a ram is killed the sheep cannot smile, it is most unlikely that the arraignment of the Senate President who is also the Chairman of the National Assembly will not attract sympathy and support from the central legislature. It cannot therefore be business as usual as long as Saraki’s trial lasts.
Just as well, the spate of serial administrative blunders of the Ladi Hamalai led leadership of the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS), established by the National Assembly, has finally hit base with a query from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) under the Presidency, in respect of the development of the institute’s permanent site. The BPP query which is in respect of the non-compliance of the project’s execution with laid down procedures, and the prospects of possible delay in its completion, points to the fact that the National Assembly can do better with a change in leadership of the institute, especially when the story of the routine operations of that agency in other areas, feature similar tardiness with less efforts at capacity building for legislative staff nationwide and beyond and more of ‘one week one trouble’ dispensation.
Interestingly while it may be widely believed that the woes of the National Assembly enjoy sponsorship from external factors with some fingering the presidency and powerful political potentates, the circumstances do not absolve the institution from culpability for an apparent and avoidable descent into debilitating vulnerability. For if the truth must be told the National Assembly has wittingly or otherwise cast itself in the shadow of its constitutionally defined status and role. Listed in Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution as the first arm of government before the executive and judiciary, the National Assembly is intended to be the defining feature of the country’s democracy. In that vein it is assigned with considerable liberties and the sacred duty of making laws to govern the conduct in respect of the duties and rights of every entity within the borders of the country from the president to the village beggar. Given the wide swathe of challenges it is envisaged to contend with, Section 60 of the Constitution avails each of the Chambers the powers to regulate its own business in order to deliver good governance for the country.
In a generic context, the expectations of good governance span features like consensus driven decisions and acts of government, accountability of the government to the governed through a regular feedback mechanism and transparency in public conduct of government officials especially with respect to management of public funds. Other areas include responsiveness of government to the ever changing expectations of the governed as shall be captured in the main by the legislature as well as the compliance by the administration with the dictates of the rule of law, which provide the foundation for social justice.
Yet the perception of the Nigerian public is that what the National Assembly has done with such sweeping powers leaves much to be desired. Not a few Nigerians generally feel that the woes of the institution are more or less consequences of a failure to assert its powers, address its statutory responsibilities and manage its internal affairs better. And given its status not only as the apex legislature in the country but the driver of the nation’s democracy project, any incontinence on its part detracts from the fortunes of the nation’s legislative organs – specifically the state houses of assembly and the local government legislative chambers; especially with respect to the growth of democracy across the country.
It all boils down to the fact that the National Assembly remains largely the architect of its own woes and has so far demonstrated complacence in that regard. For an establishment that has the constitutional powers to represent and act without let or hindrance for the people, make laws that determine the fortunes of all in the polity, and control the activities of other arms of government through legislative oversight, to be reduced to the status of a cowering underdog, is more than Nigerians can take from the institution.
It is therefore time for the National Assembly to save itself and the country’s democracy by asserting itself as the true powerhouse that drives Nigeria’s change agenda, as should be the case. To do otherwise is to lead the country through an uncharted terrain of constitutional miasma, with consequences that may not be helpful to present and future generations of Nigerians. This a case of physician heal thyself, one may say.