Director-General of the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Professor Abubakar Suleiman, on Wednesday said the only way Nigeria can prevent military intervention in the politics of the country is through continuous improvement in the quality of its legislature.
Speaking at a 3-day capacity building workshop for legislative aides in Abuja, he said, the notion of not respecting the laws and motions of the legislatures was an “impression of developing democracy and that is to tell you that we still have a long way to go.”
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He said, “I used to condemn the notion that tends to see democracy as just a monopoly of the executive. No, we can do without the executive and administer a country, but we cannot do without the legislature if actually we are practising democracy.
“Whether we like them or hate them, it is an institution that has come to stay and must be respected, it epitomizes democracy itself.
“So, if anybody out of sentiments, animosity or hatred wants to look down on that institution or that arm of government, we can as well say let the military come back.
“So, I don’t want to subscribe to the notion that the legislature is just a mere organ of government that has the power to bark, but not bite.
“They must have the power to bite. It is only when they have the power to bite that is when their resolutions, their positions and law will be respected,” he said.
