9th Assembly: Can Lawan, Gbajabiamila deliver ‘change’?

Following the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, reports that Nigerians have some specific expectations the new leadership of both the Red and Green chambers must strive hard to fulfil

Following their emergence as the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively, the duo of Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, according to many observers of the National Assembly, now have the task of convincing Nigerians that they are men of their words. This is because many Nigerians are waiting to see how they will deliver on their promises to give the nation a better National Assembly.

While campaigning for their current positions during the hard-fought processes that produced the new leaderships of the upper and lower chambers of the federal parliament, both Lawan and Gbajabiamila identified areas needing changes in the businesses of the legislature, promising to introduce new ways of doing things that will better the lot of legislators and also improve the quality of legislation in both the senate and the House of Representatives.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, while congratulating the newly elected National Assembly leaders, President Muhammadu Buhari also challenged the duo to offer new approaches in the running of the legislative chambers. Coming just short of telling them to do much better than the leadership of the 8th Assembly, the President harped on the need for more patriotism and non-partisanship in the discharge of their duties.

Buhari described the emergence of the new leaders of the legislative branch of government as “a new dawn, different from duplicity and perfidy of the immediate past.”` He then charged the Senate President and Speaker to use their exalted positions for the higher interest of the country, her people, and for the growth of democracy.

“The Executive does not desire a rubber stamp legislature. While separation of power is essential, collaboration among all arms of government should be the name of the game. Opposition needs not be virulent. Stepping into the Next Level, the legislature has a big role to play for the goals of the administration to be achieved. This is for the ultimate good of the nation,” President Buhari said, signaling the high expectation of the people from the new leaders.

THE PROMISES

If the promises made by the new Senate President and Speaker are some things to go by, it appears they are equally prepared to bring about some of the changes Nigerians seek. While gunning for the offices they now occupy, both Lawan and Gbajabiamila examined the National Assembly and identified areas needing change, and promised to be the change themselves if elected to lead the two chambers by their colleagues as Senate  President and Speaker respectively.

“We need a National Assembly that will look at Nigeria as its constituency. We want a Senate and a National Assembly that will maintain cordiality, synergy and cooperation with other arms of government. The welfare of Nigerians should not be compromised, stressing that jobs and wealth should not be concentrated in a few hands. You can’t sleep with two eyes closed, if the wealth does not go round, if there is poverty, if the children of the poor cannot go to school,” Lawan said back then.

Promising that the relationship among the three arms of government would be characterised by cooperation, collaboration, partnership and synergy under his watch if elected, Lawan stressed: “We may disagree. Our perspective may differ. We don’t go to the market square to settle our differences. We should be able to meet and discuss issues and make compromise in the national interest. That is the way to grow democracy. We may disagree, but the disagreement should not escalate.”

On his part, Gbajabiamila said under his Speakership, power will reside in the people. “The House of Representatives was established to be the people’s House and for the people’s business. It follows, therefore, that the Speaker must be the people’s Speaker elected to do the people’s business and champion their cause and in doing so fulfilling their hopes and aspirations. This is the Speaker I intend and hope to be and the House I intend and hope to lead, a People’s House,” he said.

“My candidacy is not about him myself, but about sanitising our democracy. It is about practising what we preach, global best practices. We make reference to the United States and United Kingdom. Why is it that we are very bad in practice? I will be a Speaker for every member of the House. I will also ensure the independence of the legislature,” Gbajabiamila added, declaring that his intention is to improve on the quality of legislation if elected.

HOPING FOR CHANGES

It is not only the President that is looking forward to better legislative days as Senator Lawan and Hon. Gbajabiamila settle down to work. Thousands of other Nigerians have been expressing their desires to see the upper and lower chambers live up to their calling as the defenders of the people of Nigeria, who, according to the constitution, are the real owners of the political powers being wielded by elected representatives both in the executive and the legislative arms of government.

“It is instructive to say here that the people expect a lot from their representatives in the National Assembly. This explains why many Nigerians showed keen interest in who became the leaders of the National Assembly at the expiration of the 8th Assembly. It is the desire for a better and more representative legislature that informed their interest. Lawan and Gbajabiamila as the beneficiaries of the peoples’ interest must therefore bring their experiences to bear on the new 9th Assembly,” Seeni Dosu of the Centre for Democracy and Justice (CfDJ) said.

Chief Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), in calling on the new Assembly leadership to put Nigeria and Nigerians first, also had some good words for the Bukola Saraki led 8th Assembly saying “future NASS should and must take a cue from the 8th NASS, that it is an independent arm of government, specifically created by section 4 of the 1999 Constitution, to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of Nigeria.

“Though expected to cooperate with the Executive, it must not do so at the expense of its own independence as an arm of government that participates in the inbuilt constitutional checks and balances. It is not a rubber stamp to executive desires and nuances. Any NASS worthy of its name must rise up and use its oversight powers under sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution to check the excesses of the other Judicial and Executive arms of government.”

Also, former Deputy Senate Leader, Dr. Jonathan Zwingina, advised the new Assembly members to ensure unity among members and the two chambers, so as to maintain the sanctity of the parliament and ensure the much needed collaboration that will yield desired results. “First and foremost, is that they must be united, both in each chamber and as well as between the chambers. This is important. That way, they will maintain the sanctity of the chamber,” he said.

NEEDING ATTENTION

Ahead of the resumption of the National Assembly which is currently on recess till next month, many pundits are saying the new legislature should make it a point of duty to promptly revisit some crucial bills that were left unattended to by the 8th Assembly largely for political and personal reasons. According to Dosu, while blaming the incessant face-off between the Saraki-led NASS and the Buhari-led Presidency for the fate suffered by the bill, “the 9th Assembly must rescue these critical bills.”

The human right crusader named the Presidential State of the Nation address bill, Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Amendment bill; Chartered Institute of Pension Practitioners bill; and the Revenue Mobiliaation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (Amendment) bill, the Electoral Amendment bill, Petroleum Industry Governance bill, the Police Reform bill, Gender and Equal Opportunity bill; South East Development Commission bill; and the Company and Allied Matters Act Amendment bill, as some of the legislations that must be revisited.

“There are many other bills that suffered neglect due to politics and other reasons under the 8th Assembly leadership. These must be revisited in the interest of the country. Bills like the Bankruptcy and Insolvency bill; Small and Medium Enterprise Agency bill; Energy Commission (Amendment) bill; Ajaokuta Steel Company Completion Fund bill; National Housing Fund bill; Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences (Amendment) bill and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency Act (Amendment) bill are meant to impact on the country when passed,” he added.

Similarly, Senator Zwingina wants the 9th Assembly to do all it can about the issue of security. “The National Assembly must support community policing. It has the advantage of a thorough knowledge of the environment and also the advantage of being patriotic because the police cannot feel happy if the community from which they come from is continuously not at peace. When the number of policemen is increased that increment should come from community policing.

“The other agenda is job creation, because if you don’t create jobs, where are you going to keep all the people that are unemployed and are involved in crimes because they have to survive? Some of them have families and sometimes they resort to crime because that gives them some money. We must do something in the economy that expands the job creation effort of the government. These are things the National Assembly should work on and bring in a legislation that should be able to increase the local content of Nigerian workers otherwise investors will come with money, finance and also labour and we will get nothing out of it,” he appealed.