Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has taken a swipe at critics of the 10th National Assembly under his leadership, stating that senators and members of House of Representatives were never elected to fight the executive.
Akpabio who dismissed notions of the National Assembly becoming a rubber-stamp legislative arm insisted that the collaboration between the Executive and the hallowed chamber is for the good of Nigerians.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Akpabio voiced out his reactions while featuring in a documentary to mark President Bola Tinubu’s second anniversary in office.
“When elected into the National Assembly, whether in the Senate or the House of Representatives, your constituents will not give you boxing gloves. It’s not a boxing tournament. You are there to work in a bipartisan manner for the interest of Nigeria,” Akpabio said.
He argued that the job of the legislature is to initiate and make laws that advance the country and not engage in public combat with the Executive.
“If you spend all your energy fighting the Executive, who will work for Nigeria?” he asked.
Akpabio hinted that the synergy – which Nigerians mistake for subservience– between the Legislature and the Executive is a result of consensus between the duo on the pathway to Nigeria’s growth and development.
Citing instances the hallowed chamber has rejected President Tinubu’s proposals and nominations, Akpabio argued that the National Assembly is on the side of Nigerians.
“People forget that we have made enemies by rejecting some of the nominees that the President sent to us. It’s not everything the President brings that he takes back the same way,” he said.
Furthermore, he stated that the National Assembly scrutinises every bill from the Executive and works to ensure each one of them is in tandem with the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.
“Our job is to make sure we cross the T’s and dot the I’s to assist the President in having the best for the Nigerian population,” he said.
Akpabio also brought to the fore the fact that this is the first time in the history of Nigeria that the President, the Vice President and the First Lady are all former senators. Hence, this has been instrumental in smoothening the relationship between the two arms of government.
He concluded by assuring Nigerians that the 10th National Assembly is always on its toes to initiate and pass that will uplift Nigerians from the doldrums.
