In this analysis, our correspondents at the National Assembly examine the negative impact of the crisis at the legislative chambers on the polity and national development
The National Assembly has been enmeshed in unending crisis over the constitution of the leadership of its two chambers- the Senate and the House of Representatives – in the past two months.
The crisis is however, within the ranks of the lawmakers elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress. It has been a battle of wits between the leadership of the party and some elected representatives in the nation’s apex legislative assembly on one hand and the two factional groups of lawmakers, opposing each other in both chambers on the other hand.
The crisis, which pitched the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki and his support group, the Like Minds Senators against the leadership of the party, started as soon as the APC won the March 28 presidential election and simultaneously secured the majority seats in the Senate.
In the House of Representatives, the story remains the same. The Speaker, Yakubu Dogara and his supporters have been having a running battle with the APC top hierarchy over the leadership positions in the lower chamber.
The party had preferred Senator Ahmad Lawan for the position of the President of the Senate. The party leaders did everything within their powers to compel Saraki to rescind his ambition but to no avail, as Saraki called their bluff and continued with his ambition until it became a reality, when he was elected to the exalted office on June 9, 2015.
The same scenario played out in the House of Representatives, where the leadership, particularly one of the national leaders of the party, Senator Bola Tinubu, insisted that Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila was the preferred candidate for the office of Speaker. Dogara, with the dogged support of his group, defied the position of the party, contested the election and won.
The Senate Since this frosty situation erupted, the National Assembly has not been functioning optimally. The emergence of the principal officers in the Senate dragged unnecessarily because of the meddling role of some APC Chieftains.
However, just as the adage says that, “where two elephants fight, the grass suffers”, it is the Nigerian people who are now paying the price for the lingering political brouhaha over who becomes what in the leadership configuration of the National Assembly. One moth has passed after the inauguration of the National Assembly and there is no tangible impact made by the apex Assembly to justify the mandate of the electorate, which was given to them in trust, and with the commission to provide services to the people.
Committees Some of the setbacks being witnessed in the Senate as a result of the persistent crisis in the Senate over the leadership tussle include the lack of setting up of relevant committees that will pilot the affairs of the Chamber in the next four years. Apart from the two ad hoc committees set up by the Senate went on one month recess, other things are put on hold, pending when the Senate resumes on July 21, 2015. The ad hoc committees are on Finance and the one for drafting legislative agenda for the 8th Senate.
The first and perhaps the most important of them, which is among the special committees in the Upper Chamber is the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee has the responsibility to set up the standing committees and appoint members and their leaders. The last Senate had 54 Standing Committees; six of which were special Committees.
These committees, in their capacities, represent the Senate in carrying out either oversight functions or other functions as may be defined and assigned by the whole House of the Senate.
Now that these committees are not in place, there is no doubt that some of the legislative works they supposed to carry out are suffering unattended to. This obviously amounts to shortchanging Nigerians because it is the tax payers’ money that is being used to pay the members of the Parliament to represent the people.
Moreover, due to the disagreement that has not allowed the lawmakers to settle down to work, some important bills, which are very critical to rapid national development are pending unattended to. One of such bills is the Petroleum Industry Bill, which is designed to revolutionize the oil industry, by tackling all the menacing extant problems in the sector. The Seventh Senate could not pass the bill into law because the content of the document was highly politicized, especially based on sectional bias.
The current Senate is expected to make it a top priority but the lingering imbroglio in the Red Chamber has not allowed the legislators to give attention to it.
Another bill which is also of utmost importance to Nigerians is the Fourth Alteration Bill to the 1999 Constitution. It was actually passed by the last Senate but the then President Goodluck Jonathan vetoed it based on some defects he spotted in the document. The Eighth Senate also has a responsibility to pass it as quickly as possible, to enable President Muhammadu Buhari sign it into law in good time so that it can become operational.
There is no doubt that Nigerians are running out of patience with the National Assembly members because their crisis is holding the nation to ransom in many respects. It is therefore, expected that when they resume in the next two week, they will quickly resolve their differences and give Nigerians deserving services for their money.
The House
Since the inauguration of the Eighth House of Representatives on June 25 2015, the lower chamber has sat for only five times and embarked on recess twice. It is presently on recess and due to reconvene on July 21.
The House led by Speaker Yakubu Dogara is embroiled in leadership crisis that has virtually made it impossible for effective legislative business. It is the struggle for leadership position that led to the confusion that broke up on June 25 forcing the speaker to adjourn the House to pace for peaceful resolution of the crisis.
However, two weeks after the embarrassing development, the two major camps involved in the leadership tussle are yet to resolve their differences as the Consolidation Group led by Dogara and the APC Loyalists Group led by Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila are still up in arms against each other.
As at the time of writing this report, efforts by the APC Peace Committee headed by former speaker and now Sokoto State governor, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal to broker peace had been stalled. While the APC Loyalists Group insist on recognition of the list of principal officers from the party headquarters, the Consolidation Group wants the federal character principle to be used as a yardstick in sharing principal offices.
Plenary
But as the two groups continue to fight endlessly, it is the business of lawmaking that is at the receiving end. Plenary and committees sittings have been disrupted as the House has only sat five times in more than one month. A former member of the House, Hon. Albert Sam-Tsokwa told New Telegraph that the lingering crisis are not healthy for legislative activities.
He said “the crisis has disrupted the sittings of the House. They have to resolve this quickly and put it behind them so that they can settle down and work”. Sam-Tsokwa, who spent eight years in the House between 2007 and 2015 and had served as chairman, rules and business committee reasoned that “both sides in the ongoing crisis must shift grounds for peace to be achieved.
I understand the Dogara group has conceded the position of leader to the Gbajabiamila but on condition that it must not go to the South west. I think both camps should work out a middle ground for peace to reign” Apart from the speaker and his deputy, there is no leadership in place to direct the affairs of the House. The speaker has inaugurated only four ad hoc committees and unveiled a legislative agenda, which is yet to be debated and adopted.
The selection committee that is saddled with the responsibility of constituting standing committees of the House has not been fully constituted because the yet to be determined principal officers are statutory members of the committee.
Bills
Due to their inability to sit, the House has not been able to attend to pending bills before it. For example, the controversial Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that was passed by the Seventh House in the twilight of its tenure needs to be revisited.
Another important bill that is pending before the House is the Constitution amendment (fourth alteration) to the 1999 constitution, which was rejected by former President Goodluck Jonathan has not been resolved and many other bills awaiting the attention of the lawmakers. There has been virtually no appreciable job done on any new bill since June 25.
The House has also entertained only a few motions and the ones considered could not be acted upon because there are no committees to carry out further legislative inquest and follow up as it is the practice.
Budget
The inactivity on part of the lawmakers has denied the nation the benefit of working towards cushioning effects of the harsh economic climate in the country. If the House was sitting, the lawmakers may have been working to review the 2015 budget to align it with the stark realities of the time. The spokesman for the Consolidation Group, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin lamented that the crisis was taking its toll on the budget.
The former chairman of the House committee on finance said “we have agreed to concede the position of the House leader to the Femi’s (Gbajabiamila’s) group and we took this decision bearing in mind that we need peace in this house and we want to get down to work.
The year has gone half way already and we should be busy with the review of 2015 budget on how far budget has been implemented. We have work to do and we cannot continue to waste more time talking about positions.
We expect the Femi group to accept this concession so that wecan be able (sic) to move forward”. This is a clear indication that if the House does not get down to work soon, it will lost out on its oversight function because right now, no one is supervising what the ministries, departments and agencies are doing with the 2015 budget. How much of the budget has been implemented is not known; whether releases have been regular or not is not known. This has amounted to economic loss to the nation.
Insecurity
The regime of insecurity tormenting the nation is resurging and it is expected that the lawmakers should collaborate with the President Buhari led Executives to marshal out ways of tackling the menace.
Since the inauguration of Buhari on May 29, 2015, the Boko Haram terrorists is reported to have killed over 700 people in different attacks across the country. This is a big minus to the representatives of the people, who are instead fighting over leadership positions while more citizens are being killed and their properties destroyed by Boko Haram.
Commenting on the raging crisis, a former member of the House from Plateau state, Hon. Bitrus Kaze, who represented Jos East/Jos South federal constituency in the Seventh Assembly, lamented that the crisis is taking place at this early stage.
He said: “Honestly, the Buhari administration will have a problem managing its relationship with National Assembly with the way things are going and attempt by the ruling party and Presidency to hijack the Eighth National Assembly has really compounded the problem.
The crisis in the National Assembly started too early and if this continues, this assembly might not be able to do anything at all.” According to another former member of the House, Hon. Halims Agoda, the crisis could hinder development in the country.
He said: “I think since the inauguration, the leadership of House of Representatives should preach peace, ensure some level of compromise and ensure that the integrity of the House is sacrosanct. I can say boldly that they need themselves at every point in time and since a speaker has emerged, everybody should support him and the speaker should also ensure he sees the whole house as his own by bringing everybody together so that they can engage in the process of nation building.”
However, reacting to the National Assembly crisis and its effect on the polity, the former Governor of Ebonyi State and Senator, representing Ebonyi North Senatorial District, Senator Sam Egwu, insisted that there was no crisis in the Senate but a mere disagreement amongst members over leadership positions. He also argued that Nigeria was not losing anything as a result of the situation in the Senate because the Chamber is still on recess.
His words: “there is no cost or loss encountered as a result of the disagreement in the Senate. It is not correct to say that there is crisis in the Senate because I know that there is nothing like crisis in the Senate.
Even the disagreement is almost over because both presiding and principal offices have been occupied. “It is also wrong for anybody to start talking of cost of the perceived crisis on Nigeria or the economy in general. You are aware that the Senate is on recess, and when we resume, we are going to commence work in earnest. We went on break to allow the National Assembly management to conclude everything about allocation of seats and offices to Senators because as I speak to you, some members don’t have offices yet,” he said.
He therefore, I appealed to Nigerians to learn to be patient with the legislators. “People are always quick to pass judgment on the lawmakers. I can assure Nigerians that the Eighth Senate will make the people proud because the calibre of senators. I see are those who are patriotic and have excelled in their previous services to the country,” Egwu said.
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