The Presidency has said the executive and legislative arms
of government are not supposed to have differences but to work together for the
common good of Nigerians and the country.
According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President
on National Assembly Matters (House of Reps), Umar el-Yakub, members of the two
arms were not elected to fight each other.
El-Yakub stated this in Abuja on Thursday at a press
conference to review the relationship between the 9th National Assembly and the
Muhammadu Buhari presidency in the last two years.
The presidential aide was asked if the so-called cordial
relation had yielded any positive result for the country.
Responding, he said, “I believe it is indeed yielding the
right results and, of course, it could even yield better results; having this
continuous, constructive and effective engagements. The benefits of a good
relationship is clearly seen, one of which is the budget cycle.
“When you do a budget and you implement it, especially
looking at the capital component of the budget, you will find out that the
numerous infrastructural projects around the country are some of which have
been realised because they have been put to use, like the rail and road
infrastructure and hospitals. Others are ongoing and will be completed before
the end of the year, some next year and certainly before the life of this
administration (ends). They are certainly going to change things for the better
because jobs would be create.
“So, even though there is certainly some sufferings in the
land, God willing, with the development in infrastructure – because
infrastructural development brings about economic development – you find that
the more you open up your space the more you create the right infrastructure in
education, health, roads, rails, a lot of people, even from the construction
stages, are engaged and therefore given the opportunity to work. A lot of
Nigerian youths are engaged in such construction projects.”
When asked about the controversies that trailed the passage
of the Petroleum Industry Bill and the Electoral Act 2010 (Amendment) Bill at
the National Assembly, the presidential aide said laws could always be amended
to suit times and purposes.
“Let me say that there is no perfect law and we all know
that the exigencies of the moment determine the actions that people take. Some
of the laws, as you know, just as I had mentioned, like the Electoral Act
(Amendment) Bill; there exists an Electoral Act but it is in the wisdom of the
lawmakers and those that sponsored the bill, that there needs to be some
amendments to that Act. And because there exists in the legislative process, a
framework that can be used to make amendments, that law is being amended.
“So, I believe that any law that we have today can be
subjected to amendments in the future, depending on the circumstances and
exigencies of that moment,” he stated.
Responding on a question on being better to have a stricter
executive-legislature relationship for better governance of the country,
el-Yakub argued that Nigerians would benefit more from a cordial relationship.
He said, “I certainly would not canvass for a rough
relationship because a rough relationship does not deliver results. Bot the
executive and the legislature are supposed to be responsible leaders. They were
elected by the Nigeria people to come and collaborate and work for them.
“Like I said, we operate one government with various arms.
There are three arms of government and three tiers along the line, and we are
all supposed to work for the orderliness and good governance of this country.
We are supposed to be partners in nation-building. We can certainly disagree.
The legislature has a responsibility to oversight the executive, which, by the
way, Mr President recognises and respects.
“Let me also quickly say that there are also areas of
differences and disagreements. For instance, the Supplementary Act that the
President just assented to, it was not what the executive brought that was
finally approved by the National Assembly; there were changes. But the President
went ahead and assented because he recognised they have the right to make those
changes. So, what is important is, we disagree to agree on a common platform
for the common good of the Nigerian people who elected the government into
power.”
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