Many Nigerians are reacting to yesterday’s inauguration of the 9th Assembly and the emergence of the presiding officers for the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as their expectations from the lawmakers in the next four years.
Auwalu Yadudu, a professor of law and former Legal Adviser to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, is optimistic that the 9th Assembly would be different from the 8th whose leadership emerged under controversial circumstances.
“If you go back to the 8th National Assembly, the circumstance under which its leadership emerged, was shrouded in controversy and scandals, because neither the presidency nor the ruling party partook in its emergence,” he said.
“So, it was not surprising that the relationship was sour from the beginning till the end. However, with the way the leadership of the 9th Assembly emerged, based on the party’s recommendations, I expect good working relationship with the executive.
“To me, what happened in 2015 was an aberration in the presidential system of government, but now that the majority party has produced the leadership of the two chambers, it follows naturally that the legislative-executive goals and aspirations would be in tandem,” he said.
Professor Yadudu, however, counseled that the loyalty and allegiance of the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives should be to the members who elected them, and not to the executive arm of government.
According to him, while co-operating and being supportive to the processes and initiatives of the APC-led executive, the lawmakers should not be seen to be mere rubber-stamp legislature.
