{"id":35823,"date":"2021-09-27T18:29:28","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T17:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=35823"},"modified":"2021-09-27T18:29:28","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T17:29:28","slug":"absolute-rubber-stamp-lawan-led-senate-joins-buharis-kitchen-cabinet-leads-presidency-annex-rolls-out-bills-of-oppression-against-nigerians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=35823","title":{"rendered":"Absolute rubber stamp: Lawan-led Senate joins Buhari\u2019s kitchen cabinet, leads Presidency annex, rolls out bills of oppression against Nigerians"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SUNDAY ABORISADE<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0examines the activities of the\u00a0 ninth Senate in the last two years and notes that the absolute loyalty of the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) \u2013 led regime,\u00a0remains a major concern to Nigerians<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

The tension that enveloped the Senate chamber during the inauguration of the ninth National Assembly on Tuesday, June 11, 2019  was a clear indication that the leadership of the All Progressives Congress and the Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)- led regime lacked the absolute confidence that their anointed candidate, Ahmad Lawan, would enjoy an overwhelming mandate of his colleagues to actualise his dream of becoming Senate President.<\/p>\n\n\n

The protest by some senators, who were loyal to Lawan, when the then Clerk to the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, announced that the Senate presidency election which was also contested by Senator Ali Ndume, would be conducted via an open-secret method, was a clear indication that Lawan and his backers were afraid that there could be a hidden agenda to prevent the emergence of a senate leadership that would owe its allegiance to the whims and caprices of the executive arm of government.<\/p>\n\n\n

 Since the APC had and still have a clear majority of the elected senators on the floor that day, one would have expected the election to be a walkover for Lawan but the event of 2015, made his sponsors within and outside the chambers to allegedly mobilise and deploy substantial resources to lobby the senators\u2019 votes for Lawan, who invariably emerged victorious.<\/p>\n\n\n

 Lawan and his sponsors were said to have expressed serious concerns that a significant members of the APC in the Senate could strike a deal with the Peoples Democratic Party to snatch the Senate presidency for Ndume, just like what happened in 2015, when Senator Bukola Saraki emerged as the senate president.<\/p>\n\n\n

 Lawan spokesperson, Ola Awoniyi, lent credence to the assertion in his  piece on his principal\u2019s one year in office, with the headline, \u201cAhmad Lawan as President of the Ninth Senate: Setting the right tone from the outset\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

He had said, \u201cWary this time about history repeating itself, the APC leadership had worked assiduously to unite the party\u2019s caucuses in the two chambers behind the party\u2019s consensus candidates. Leaving nothing to chance, the APC chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, was there alongside other party chiefs to watch the proceedings and ensure no surprises this time around.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cWhile the event was in progress at the Senate chamber, President Muhammadu Buhari was at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel about a kilometre away. It was the venue of an anti-corruption forum sponsored by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cThe National Leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was also at the forum, and like the President, his mind was apparently far away at the Senate chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n

 \u201cThe day\u2019s proceedings at the Senate chambers kicked off smoothly, until the announcement of the mode of elections. The APC had prepared for open balloting. But the Clerk of the National Assembly decided otherwise. Relying on what he called the extant rules of the Senate, Sani-Omolori said the election would be by open-secret ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cThis was completely against the expectation of the APC leaders and understandably made them very uncomfortable. The party sensed another ambush as the secrecy of the ballot meant it would not be able to monitor how its members voted,\u201d Awoniyi stated.<\/p>\n\n\n

Justifying the emergence of Lawan, Awoniyi said it  had restored party supremacy in politics and enhanced cooperation within the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n

He had said Lawan\u2019s senate presidency had ended tension and acrimony between the legislative and the executive arm of government and had \u201cgiven way to harmony and mutual respect as the two elected arms of government are again learning to sing from the same hymn book.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

He had said, \u201cSince then, presidential nominees for appointment have been screened without delay. Budgets and other executive bills and communications have been receiving deserved attention in the Senate without slowing down the activities of government.\u201d
He was however, quick to admit that, \u201cpundits, who love politics as a bloody game, gave this new development in inter-arms relations a wrong interpretation. They christened the Legislature a rubber stamp.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

 Lawan has also, in his various comments to defend his \u201csame page\u201d stand with the executive said he owed no one any apology for taking such stand.<\/p>\n\n\n

He was once quoted to have said, \u201c\u2019We are so terribly misunderstood that when we say that we are going to work with the executive arm of government in a very harmonious and productive manner, some people, some out of misunderstanding, some out of mischief, say it\u2019s a rubber stamp National Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cBut let me say this: no amount of distractions or blackmail will stop us from being united in the National Assembly for the benefit of Nigerians who elected us and nothing will discourage us from working with the executive arm of government for the betterment of our country.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cAs a legislature we know where our limits lie in terms of cooperation and in working with the executive arm of government. But we are going to give the President and his team every possible legislative support that they require to make this country better and greater.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cWhere we feel that there is a breach of procedures and processes by the executive arm of government, we will insist that the right things are done.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cSo it doesn\u2019t mean that because we are peaceful and that we are cordial with the executive arm of government that we are rubber stamp but that is something that will not distract us, \u201c Lawan had stated.<\/p>\n\n\n

However, some Nigerians who have been observing the activities of the Lawan leadership in the last two years, are quick to point out that the unholy alliance between the legislature and the executive has done more damage than good for the country.<\/p>\n\n\n

They have argued for instance that, rather than subjecting Buhari\u2019s requests to serious scrutiny, the ninth Senate leadership was always in a hurry to do the bidding of its benefactor \u2013 the presidency \u2013 to the detriment of Nigerians.<\/p>\n\n\n

Lawan had said that many bills that were beneficial to Nigerians were passed in the last two years of his leadership but Nigerians were quick to point out that the ninth Senate under his watch, rolled out the most wicked, draconian and anti \u2013 people bill since 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n

They cited among others, social media bill, hate speech, amnesty for repentant terrorists, and the health emergency bill.<\/p>\n\n\n

Many Nigerians have blamed the ninth Senate loyalty for the current loan burden which the country is grappling with.<\/p>\n\n\n

For instance with another request for the consideration and subsequent approval of a fresh external borrowing to the tune of $4.054 billion, Nigeria\u2019s external loan stock is set to reach an all-time high of $45.2bn.<\/p>\n\n\n

The proposed addition to the debt stock indicates that external borrowings have skyrocketed the nation\u2019s foreign debt portfolio by 366 per cent since 2015 when the total outstanding foreign debt was $9.7bn.<\/p>\n\n\n

The Campaign For Democracy, while assessing Lawan\u2019s 9th Senate, said the red chamber failed to live up to the people\u2019s expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n

The National General Secretary of CD and Convener, Conference of Nigerian Civil Rights Activists, Ifeanyi Odili, told The PUNCH that the CD, and indeed Nigerians were very uncomfortable with Lawan\u2019s Senate relationship with the executive arm of government when it should act as a check.<\/p>\n\n\n

He said, \u201cSenator Ahmad Lawan\u2019s ninth Senate has become the first to approve foreign loans of over $30bn  loan for the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in the last two years.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cIt is unhistorical and sad that the ninth senate has not only exposed their huge intellectual, political and financial fraud but has embarrassed Nigerians because since its take off, the 9th senate has approved all the foreign loans requested by the presidency without thorough questioning.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cThe ninth senate under Lawan has portrayed itself anti people by initiating a bill for hate speech.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cThe hate speech bill if allowed to sail through, is another subtle way of bringing back decree no 2 (detention without trial) thereby reliving an ugly experience that happened in the past under military juntas.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, members of the National Assembly should not be blamed for jeopardizing and minimizing democracy ethos since they did not know what it took to put up the extant democratic structure and principle.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cThe Legislative \u2013 Executive relationship is a criminal in intention as it is a conspiracy against Nigerians.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cThey have jointly plunged Nigeria into a huge debt which the coming generation might find difficult to upset.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cIt is irritating that the 9th senate did not borrow any leave from the past Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cWhile I applaud a good and robust relationship of executive and legislative arms of our nation, I will also say that their relationship is not to the benefit of the Nigeria people because it it is anti Nigerians in nature when taking a look at it holistically.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cFor instance, whose interest is the Amnesty for repentant Boko Haram who had barbarically sent thousands of souls to their untimely graves serving? Politicians! because they are their backers.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cApart from the above the unscrupulous approval of all lopsided appointments ever sent to the Senate by the Presidency is a huge disappointment to the  nation as they did not reflect principles of federal character.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cTampering with the federal character principles is  unethical, immoral, amoral, conscienceless, untrustworthy, and exploitative.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cWhen these set in, then democracy, has lost its savoury, it is like a salt that lost its taste. In this area, the 9th Senate also failed the nation and caused some ethnic nationalities to loose confidence, trust and sense of belonging and oneness in our nationhood,\u201d Odili added.<\/p>\n\n\n

Spokesperson for the Southern Nigeria Frontier, Olufemi Lawson, said he was not impressed with the achievements of the Lawan-led ninth Senate so far.<\/p>\n\n\n

Lawson said, \u201cA performance assessment of the current leadership of the National Assembly as headed by Senator Ahmad Lawan as chairman of the National Assembly, hasn\u2019t been so impressive and impactful, when compared to the past, particularly the 8th National Assembly, where he was the senate leader.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cIt is disheartening, that Senator Lawan\u2019s leadership has through deed and utterances, reduced the National Assembly to an extension of the Executive arm of government.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cWhile it is normal for legislators to support the visions and manifestos of their political party, such must not be seen, to be in conflict with the overall interest of the citizens, especially as such is dictated by the constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you also look at the quality of legislation under this current national assembly, you will realise, that it has not been able to measure up to the 8th National Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cThe Lawan\u2019s National Assembly has reduced itself to a rubber stamp but I strongly feel it can still retrace its steps and align with the yearning of Nigerians, who are the biggest stakeholders in the democratic project.<\/p>\n\n\n

Similarly, the Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said Nigerians did not believe that anything beneficial to them could come from the 9th Senate, going by how Lawan emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n

Rafsanjani said, \u201cThe Chairmanship of Ahmad Lawan of the 9th Assembly has been a cause for debate, less so because of the newfound romance between the National assembly and the Presidency after a tumultuous relationship with the Saraki led NASS.<\/p>\n\n\n

He said the Buhari regime preferred Lawan in order to get all requests approved without hesitation.<\/p>\n\n\n

He said, \u201cWhile a good working relationship between the executive and legislature is good for the smooth running of affairs of a country, there is a limit allowed by the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cAn Ahmed Lawan Chairmanship of the National Assembly, doesn\u2019t seem concerned with these principles as he publicly stated that \u201cany request from President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly is good for the nation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cThis shows an unwillingness on his part to invoke the powers of the National assembly to scrutinize the actions and inactions of the executive arm of government.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cSubsequently, the National Assembly has approved many loan requests from the presidency despite public outcry.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cThe President has been in breach of the constitution with little or no repercussions too, such as failing to transmit power to the vice president after travelling to the United Kingdom, a review of grazing routes, and the appointment of Federal Capital Territory judges.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cThere is also the failure of the Federal Government to perform its primary function of protecting lives and properties of Nigerians.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cBy allowing these to go unchecked, Lawan\u2019s action goes beyond loyalty to the party but to President Buhari, who single-handedly ensured his emergence as Senate President, even with better candidates in the fray.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cWith his loyalty to the President, the executive don\u2019t have respect for the National Assembly and not much progress has been recorded.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cAgain, the general public has lost confidence that under his leadership he could ensure executive compliance on legal ,policies and programmes that will add value to democracy, peace , justice and sustainable development with accountable governance.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n

\u25aa\ufe0e The Punch<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SUNDAY ABORISADE\u00a0examines the activities of the\u00a0 ninth Senate in the last two years and notes that the absolute loyalty of the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) \u2013 led regime,\u00a0remains a major concern to Nigerians The tension that enveloped the Senate chamber during the inauguration of the ninth National […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":22682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5777],"tags":[31,209,3957],"class_list":["post-35823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-features","tag-buhari","tag-lawan","tag-rubber-stamp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35823\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}