National Assembly members agreed not to be hostile to President Buhari’s government – Senate spokesman

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The current 9th National Assembly members all agreed that they will not have an acrimonious relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, unlike the 8th Assembly under Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara.

Spokesman of the senate, Senator Ajibola Bashiru, who represents Osun Central disclosed this in an interview published in newsmen on Wednesday while responding to claims that the current national assembly is a rubber-stamp that is always quick to do the bidding of the executive.

He said “I don’t know the basis for your question, but what I do know is that at the inception, there was an agreement among the lawmakers that we do not want an acrimonious relationship between the Executive and the Legislature”.

“All of us witnessed how such a relationship worked against the interest of the country with the attitude of the 8th Assembly towards the Executive”.

“Indeed, the so-called rubber-stamp tag does not tally with the reality, if one considers the fact that on several occasions the President’s nominees were rejected by this 9th Senate. There are so many instances of this”.

“For instance, a nominee to represent the Southeast in the Law Reform Commission was rejected because he had not been called to the Bar. Even though he is a qualified lawyer, the law requires that he must be called to the Bar”.

“A request for a loan for the government to tackle COVID-19 was also not ratified, even though the ruling party has the majority in the National Assembly. As representatives of the people, we also expressed dissatisfaction over the handling of security issues by the government”.

“Following up on that, we called for the sacking of the Service Chiefs several times. So, the tag of rubber-stamp does not suit the 9th National Assembly.

“We only approve proposals that advance the interest of our dear country”.

“But, any request that does not represent the aspirations of those that elected us has been turned down on several occasions. The absence of acrimony between us and the Executive does not mean that the parliament is a rubber-stamp in the hands of the chief executive”.