By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
The decision of President Bola Tinubu to caution National Assembly members against the frequent summoning of his appointees may have pitched him against the federal lawmakers.
Investigations by ThisNigeria yesterday revealed that the senators and members of the House of Representatives were not comfortable with the development and are set to resist the directive.
President Tinubu had last week Wednesday, appealed to members of the National Assembly to exercise restraint in summoning heads of ministries, departments, and agencies before parliamentary committees.
He spoke at the breaking of Ramadan in Abuja with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, and the leadership of the Green Chamber.
The President had said while oversight is essential for maintaining transparency and accountability in governance, excessive summoning of officials can disrupt operations and hinder service delivery to citizens.
He, therefore, urged lawmakers to show discretion in the exercise of their oversight functions.
He said, “I have been watching various committees summoning ministers and heads of agencies. I have complained to the Speaker to let the poor breathe. Let these people do the job. We are not saying that you are not influential. We are not saying you cannot do your oversight.
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“But consider the primary duty of each agency, its personnel, or the responsibilities of the Governor of the Central Bank or the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance to you and the entire nation.
”If they are distracted or disturbed, maybe we will shift parliamentary sitting all through the night. We must find a way to accommodate one another. This is an appeal to you. See if you can accept representatives in some instances or even documentation.”
He expressed confidence in the ability of the National Assembly to uphold good governance and lauded the existing cordial relationship between the executive and the legislature.
However, federal lawmakers who reacted to the development strictly on conditions of anonymity over the weekend told ThisNigeria that such a directive cannot work.
For instance, a senator from the North-West geopolitical zone vowed that his colleagues would resist any attempt to turn the federal parliament into a rubber stamp legislature.
He said, “I am from an opposition political party and I have the mandate of my constituents to make laws in the best interest of Nigeria.
“I am also expected to carry out oversight functions on the executive. How will I be able to do this if President Bola Tinubu is shielding his appointees from answering questions from the Legislature?
“We are currently on break but when we resume plenary in April, we will trash out all the issues. We can’t be a rubber stamp parliament,” the Senator said.
Another opposition Senator from the South-South, who also craved anonymity said Senators in the 10th Assembly had jointly agreed not to be appendage of the Executive, unlike the 9th Assembly.
He said, “We had a legislative agenda that we all agreed upon shortly after the inauguration of the 10th Senate. We all agreed that we would not be an appendage of the Executive arm of government.
“We all knew what the nation passed through in the 10th Senate under the leadership of Senator Ahmad Lawan.
“The 9th Senate was tagged an absolute rubber-stamp parliament and we knew where that led the country to. I think President Bola Tinubu should allow us to do our job. We cannot just summon any appointee without a reason.
“We appropriate money for the executive and they owe us a duty to explain how the nation’s resources are utilized under their supervision.
“What we can do as parliament is that the two chambers could be harmonising our activities when it comes to oversight like the way we did during the budget defence sessions.”
Efforts to get the official reaction of the Senate Spokesperson, Senator Adeyemi Adaramodu, to the issue did not succeed as he did not respond to questions posted to his WhatsApp page as of the time of filing this report.
*It raises constitutional dust– Campaign for Democracy
Meanwhile, the Campaign for Democracy (CD), has said the only way Tinubu could be right was if his appointees were being summoned on mundane issues that were not in national interest.
The CD, through its National President, Pastor Ifeanyi Odili, while reacting to the development urged the federal lawmakers to ignore Tinubu’s directive if their actions were purely in the national interest.
Odili said, “The first thing that came to my mind is that, is their invitation not having any serious purpose or value? If their invitation is frivolous, and lacking national interest, therefore, PBAT was right.
“But if their invitation is for the interest of the nation and PBAT is aware, then the President has erred and should be cautioned so that he will not stylishly or subtly become a dictator.
“Even in the military era, Ministers were summoned by the Armed Forces Ruling Council and heaven did not fall. Lots are going on at the federal level, even at the state level that requires serious attention.
“For PBAT to charge the members of the NASS not to invite cabinet members in the interest of the nation is diversionary and promoting corruption. It also proves that he has a lot of dirty deals in his cabinet.
“If the NASS cannot invite members of the Federal Executive Council, who else would do? Bola Tinubu should be cautioned to run his government responsibly and to play his political chess game with utmost maturity and with sense of responsibility.
“No section of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria prevents the NASS from inviting Executive Council member(s) for clarification of issues bothering our nation.
“For PBAT to make such a charge is to raise serious constitutional dust. So, he needs to be cautioned in simple and clear terms,” Odili added.
