Senate President Ahmad Lawan has said President Muhammadu Buhari could not perform optimally in his first tenure because of the rift between the executive and the legislature.
Although the All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled the National Assembly between 2015 and 2019, the Buhari administration did not have a smooth ride.
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Both chambers of the National Assembly led by then Senate President Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives, were on a collision course with the presidency.
Saraki and Dogara defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before the end of Buhari’s first term.
Speaking at the Progressives Youth Conference in Abuja on Monday, Lawan said the APC lost four years that would have been used to convince Nigerians that they were right in voting out the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“For four years [2015 to 2019], our government could not perform optimally because of the then crisis between the parliament – the national assembly – and the executive arm of government.”
“So, APC had already lost four very important years. And, that was supposed to be the year that we should have convinced Nigerians that they took the right decision by voting out a PDP administration in 2015.
“What are our options? We are one party in different arms of government. Our policies are supposed to be the same. Our programmes and projects are supposed to be the same, whether you’re in the legislature or the executive.
“So long as you are APC, that is your programme and project, that is your government and you are bound to make it succeed,” he said.
He also asked the ruling party to brace up for challenges after the end of Buhari’s second tenure.
