FG, Senate and Gbajabiamila’s confirmation

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Lanre Gbajabiamila as the Director-General of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission. This is coming 18 months after he was nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari for Senate’s confirmation.

His appointment followed the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Sports and Youth Development under the chairmanship of Senator Ogba Obinna (PDP, Ebonyi), which screened him and presented him for confirmation of the whole house.

His appointment was first announced in April 2017 by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation after which he assumed office without screening and/or confirmation by the National Assembly.

But his assumption of office was put on hold by the Senate after Senator Dino Melaye (PDP, Kogi West) had on the floor of the Senate in May last year picked holes in his appointment.

He described Gbajabiamila’s resumption of office without parliamentary confirmation as a selective respect for the rule of law and negation of the promise made by his then party, the APC, as he urged the Senate to conduct investigation.

But The Presidency in July 2018 re-presented Gbajabiamila for confirmation and was duly confirmed by the Senate this week.

While his confirmation lasted, the National Lottery Regulatory Commission was under the administrative fiat of an acting Director General and must have had its development stunted because of the limitations of the powers of an acting DG at the helm of affairs.

Lanre Gbajabiamila’s case was just one of the many cases of appointment confirmation being stalled at the Senate due to seeming power tussle between the executive and the legislature.

It is instructive to note that the confirmation of the nation’s anti-corruption czar, Ibrahim Magu, as chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been stalled for more than three years while the Federal Government is not eager to represent Magu for confirmation on the grounds of the Senate’s stance on the EFCC boss. Incidentally, different suits over Magu’s status are still pending in courts.

But concerned Nigerians, Civil society organizations and even legal icons have condemned the stance of the Senate on Magu.

Though various reasons have been adduced for their action but it was largely believed that the legislators held the confirmation in order to get back at the the Presidency.

Aside the legal implications of this action of the legislators, some Nigerians are of the opinion that the Senate is playing mere politics with issues of national urgency such as confirmation of appointment.

While the senators have the right to exercise their constitutional power of giving approval to appointments made by the executive, they should see their role as legislators as complementary to other arms of government for smooth governance and that any contrary action tends to draw the nation back.

The legislature should device a more credible means within the ambit of the law and in accordance with extant laws of the land to and also sharpen their negotiation skills to advance their course at the Presidency rather than cheap blackmail and taking the executive to ransom.

The office of the Senior Special Assistants to the the President on National Assembly Matters in both chambers of the National Assembly should also wake up from their slumber and adequately explore and leverage on their intermediary role for a healthy symbiotic relationship between legislature and the executive.

We are of the opinion that incessant face-off between the executive and the legislature can never do the nation any good but weakens governance. Politics, after all, should be give and take.