Senate President Ahmad Lawan Wednesday urged those labeling the National Assembly as rubber stamp of the Executive to judge the legislature by its actions and activities, not by sentiments.
Lawan spoke while playing host to a delegation of the Arewa Film Makers Association of Nigeria who paid him a courtesy call at the National Assembly, Abuja.
He said the Ninth National Assembly would continue to work in synergy with the executive arm of government to enhance service delivery to the people.
He said: “If someone believes that the National Assembly or thelLegislature should always be fighting with the executive arm of government before you recognise that legislature as being active, that person is getting it wrong.
“The legislature is supposed to be in scrutiny of the activities of the Executive to ensure that the people, the citizens, get what they are supposed to get from the government that they have elected.
“So we’ve chosen to be very sensitive and alive to our responsibility as parliamentarians. That’s to say if we see something that the Executive is doing that’s wrong, we say that it’s wrong, but if the Executive is on the right track, we’ll ensure we’re supporting it for it to deliver the services to the people.
“I want to urge those who feel that if you are not fighting the Executive, you are not doing anything, to look at what the Ninth National Assembly has been doing. Judge us by our actions and activities. No sentiments.
“Some people, maybe, misunderstand what the role of the legislature is. But many Nigerians know that in today’s administration, the Ninth National Assembly has played a very significant role in ensuring that we provide infrastructure in this country. That we provide services.
“That does not hide the fact that we have issues in the country – issue of insecurity particularly is everywhere. Yet we also believe that we must work together with the Executive to provide solutions to these myriad of security challenges across the length and breadth of our country.
“So this Assembly will continue to work for Nigerians. We don’t mind what somebody will say so long as we discharge our responsibilities to our citizens, we’ll be happy with ourselves that we’re doing the right thing.
“That does not stop anyone from being critical, but when you’re critical of us, tell us how we can be better. Don’t just call people name because you have access to some media houses. Tell us where we’re wrong so that we can improve and do better. That’s what we want because the business of governance is everybody’s business even though responsibilities are cut for different arms of government and even for citizens,” Lawan said.
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