Senate President Ahmed Lawan has advised every appointee of President Muhammadu Buhari to emulate him by being a reflection of his attitude towards the National Assembly.
Lawan, who gave the advice on Thursday after a meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the National Assembly would not tolerate any attitude or disposition not in support of the harmony in the relationship between the legislative and executive arms of government.
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The Minister of State for Labour, Productivity and Employment, Festus Keyamo, had on June 30, clashed with the federal lawmakers when he appeared before the joint committees of the National Assembly on Labour to brief them on the recruitment of 774,000 youths under the Special Public Works programme (SPW).
An argument over the composition of the selection of the committees of the scheme snowballed into war of words between the minister and the lawmakers.
Thus, the federal lawmakers announced the suspension of the scheme. Subsequently, President Buhari, on Tuesday, reportedly threw his weight behind the minister by giving him a go-ahead to continue with the exercise, despite the suspension by the lawmakers.
The senate president, when asked whether there would be some changes in the conduct of some of the ministers from the outcome of the meeting with the President, said: “I don’t know what you mean by that, but let me say that this National Assembly has been very supportive, very friendly with the executive arm of government and there’s no doubt in my mind that the President has been quite supportive of the legislature as well.
“You will recall that in the processing of the budget last year, Mr President made a very categorical statement that no minister at that time should travel out of Nigeria without going to the National Assembly to defend his or her budget.
“That had never been done before and that was in support and in almost every family engagement the President would commend the members of the National Assembly. So, Mr President is in full support of the National Assembly and what we do.
“If you are an appointee of the President, you are supposed to be reflective of the attitude of the President towards the National Assembly and the National Assembly will continue to support Mr President, but the National Assembly will take exception to any attitude or disposition that is not in support of the harmony in the relationship between the two arms of government.”
Lawan, while reacting to a question that sought to know whether he discussed the misunderstanding between the National Assembly and the Federal Ministry of Employment, said: “I think the relationship between this National Assembly and the Executive arm of government, particularly Mr President, is beyond one employee of the President.”
He said he met the President on behalf of the members of the National Assembly, promising the lawmakers would do whatever it could do to ensure that the administration works for Nigerians and enhance the relationship between the executive and the legislature.
He said both the legislature and the executive must at all times work in the interest of the people of the country.
