Yakubu Dogara, former speaker of the house of
representatives, says the era of the legislature standing against the “tyranny”
of the executive is long gone.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Bola
Tinubu had endorsed Godswill Akpabio, a former minister of Niger Delta affairs,
to be senate president.
However, there was opposition to the APC’s nominations from
other interested lawmakers.
Abdulaziz Yari, a former governor of Zamfara, and Orji Uzor Kalu, chief whip of the senate, had insisted on contesting the position – but Akpabio eventually emerged senate president.
The former speaker said members of the executive should
desist from interfering in the election of presiding officers of the national
assembly.
“Taking the position we are advocating requires resistance.
Now, resistance is not by comfort, it entails suffering and sacrifice and when
you resist, you tend to lose a lot,” he said.
“Any democracy that cuts itself off from checks and balances
severs its lifeline and then bleeds to death.
“Why should someone
who has been elected into an executive position seek to control the emergence
of the leadership of the parliament that is supposed to be independent?
“Without sounding a bit pessimistic, I believe that the days
of standing up to tyranny in the legislature have long faded. These days, no
road to Damascus moment here. I think redemption or salvation is very far.
“In most cases, as legislators, some of us who have stayed
there for long know those who have the onions and trust and capacity to
exercise leadership on our behalf.
“When it comes to determining this, whether from the point of view of the executive or political parties, in most cases, what they [executive] do is just sit down there without proper consultation with the membership and say this person must be the presiding officer, based on their own completely extrinsic consideration, without regard to the feeling of members.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com