Just as the Nigerian Judiciary is passing through a tough time trying to manage a battered image stemming from perceived conflicting and controversial judgements, so are members of the 10^th National Assembly.

While a large number of Nigerians have nicknamed them rubber stamp Assembly, Spokesperson of the dissolved Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign during the 2023 presidential election, Daniel Bwala thinks that this National Assembly is worse than they have been labelled.

Bwala, who spoke during an Arise TV programme on Monday, harped on the need for electoral reform ahead of the 2027 general election, to avoid cases of unjust or conflicting judgements by the Court of Appeal, currently rocking some states.

Bwala noted that if the 10^th National Assembly could go back to the reform Agenda put in place by its predecessor, Nigeria will have a more credible elections in 2027.

Having served as a person in the office of the Deputy Senate President during the 9^th Assembly, Bwala explained that “Traditionally, that office handles constitutional amendments. I began the process and I remember the extensive advisory we gave, in fact, the Deputy Senate President was open to some of these reforms that we introduced. We produced a bill which was sponsored in the National Assembly but as it went round Nigeria, some states knocked it down.

“We provided for pre pre-election; that is to say time limit for which congress matters should be determined and not brought forward to the primaries, time which the primaries has to stop and then you go to the election tribunal. We did not want a situation where somebody will win an election and then, a court will remove him for whatever reason.”

He emphasised that “If the 10^th Assembly will go back to the reform agenda and bring them forward it will help. With respect to the Electoral Act, if you leave it at the Electoral Act level, what happened in 2023 will be applied where lawyers and parties went about saying that electronic transmission is merely a guideline because it is not in the Electoral Act and it’s not in the Constitution. If the National Assembly will carry the balls to bring this reform, it will be helpful.”

Bwala however noted that he was not certain if the 10^th Assembly would carry out the reform adding that “This 10^th Assembly is worse than a rubber stamp. Rubber stamp is even better because in the rubber stamp Assembly that was termed the 9^th Assembly, at least they would deliberate, debate, interrogate the executive but the executive will end up finding their way. This one they don’t debate, interrogate; they don’t do anything. You heard it from among their members, not external people, that when bills are brought to the house they are passed speedily, thereby bypassing the procedure for bill passage.”

He further surmised that “Reform agenda cannot be successful without removing the INEC chairman, changing the INEC commissioners because majority of the commissioners are members of a political party. Also, without doing extra work, go back to the 9^th Assembly and pick the reform proposals.”

And still on the 10^th National Assembly but this time, on how it may choose to handle the recent request for approval of loans by the Tinubu administration, Dr Reuben Abati on Arise TV show, first declared that “Its inevitable that the Tinubu administration will seek the approval of the National Assembly to borrow more money.”

He recalled that “the NSA told us that they met a bankrupt treasury; the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, also told us that they found the economy in a very bad shape. The minister of works, Dave Umahi also disclosed that the total debt Nigeria has incurred on ongoing road projects across the country is in the territory of 6trillion. Meanwhile revenue is very low, even the projected revenue for 2024 is 18trillion.”

“They are planning to borrow 7 trillion. By the time you add that to the existing debt profile of Nigeria, which is over 83trillion, you are looking at about 94 trillion naira. The question is what do we do with the borrowing? All the loans that have been taken before in Nigeria, Nigerians are concerned that what you see is the debt stock rising but they don’t see the effect in terms of development outcomes. We are going to borrow up to 94 trillion yet, we are told that the roads have not been fixed, schools are not in good shape, lecturers are not getting what they want in terms of standing agreement with the federal government, etc. So, what do they do with the money that they borrow?” Dr Abati queried.

He also pointed out that with an increase in debt profile, Nigerians who are already overburdened will suffer more. “The economy is not productive, so what are we borrowing money for? If we look at the supplementary budget where the government was asking for about 2.7trillion additional funding, the controversy was about the government wanting to buy a yacht, we don’t know the status of that yatch now. 28 billion was going to be spent to buy luxury cars in the villa and renovate places within the State House. Nigerians said no, at a time that Nigeria is facing serious austerity, government officials must also be tightening their belt; not only the people who should be making sacrifices.”

Expressing doubt about whether the Senate will handle president Tinubu’s request judiciously, Abati said, “These loans we imagine of course that the Senate will approve; given the character of the Senate as some people have argued on this platform. Government needs to worry more about productivity, making this economy more productive, about tightening its own belt and generating more revenue not necessarily through taxation but more, through attracting more investments.”

He added, “The cost of governance has to also come down. I hope that the Senate will not just rubber stamp the request but do due diligence, and scrutinise the items and what the Tinubu administration wants to do with the additional loan, and also ensure that there is accountability, because the major problem in Africa is the accountability of our leaders in terms of managing resources.”

On the same issue of president Tinubu seeking approval for fresh loans, Rufai Oseni also asked, “What is the president Tinubu administration going to do with the money?”

According to him, we are asking for another loan after they talked about the yatchs, and the state governors are spending billions of naira on frivolous activities and incurring more debt for the future yet unborn”, adding that if the impact of the borrowing is positive on Nigerians, that he will be the first to ask that more money should be borrowed. But as things stand, even if we call for debt forgiveness, Rufai says, “no nation will take us seriously, as we are squandering our riches while incurring more debts. What we hear are cases of corruption. Please the National Assembly should save Nigeria. I know they say the National Assembly is a rubber stamp, scrap that, the National Assembly is copy and paste of the Executive. But if it is the will of the Nigerian people that put you there, investigate and ask questions. But how will you ask questions when you remember that they approved 160million for your SUVs. You are in there as complicit while the people bleed. Have a conscience.” (Saturday Vanguard)

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