Legislative-executive synergy, national development and matters arising

The inauguration of the 8th House of Representatives on June 9, 2015, elicited optimism among Nigerians, even among the critics and political analysts.

While some analysts observe that after two years of its inauguration, the House of Representatives has not failed the expectations of many Nigerians, others differ.

Optimists insist that although there have been political tension, ethnic agitations and economic recession; the dexterity of the lower chamber has, in no doubt, helped in stabilising the polity.

According to them, all over the world, the legislature and the executive have always had issues to cause disagreement but the concept of separation of powers is designed to address that.

They note that Baron de Montesquieu, a French political philosopher, who articulated the need for the three arms of government to be separated with distinct functions, only envisaged that their works could be complementary.

To them, it is not unusual to notice the lawmakers and agencies of the Federal Government putting record straight through debate over some constitutional issues.

Analysts observe further that even when the arms of government become too close and constantly in agreement, it becomes a cause for worry for ideal democrats.

Observers, however, believe that in the case of the 8th National Assembly, the House of Representatives has put in place appropriate legislative agenda to avoid frictions with the executive.

They recall for instance that from the onset of the session, the House prepared the grounds for effective contribution to the Change Agenda of the present government through robust legislation.

Shortly after inauguration also, they note that the House aptly showed a clear understanding of Nigeria’s economic woes.

Beyond this, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara called for application of emergency measures to address other numerous challenges confronting the country, particularly to pull it out of economic recession.

Presenting the legislative agenda to members of the House of Representatives, he advocated collective efforts to address the challenges rather than attributing blames.

“As leaders, we must take responsibility for the present economic situation although we are not directly responsible for it; everyone wants to blame someone for something that goes wrong.

“These are no times like any other. I, therefore, call on all of us and, indeed the National Assembly, to continue giving legislative support to the executive on all well-thought-out and effective solutions to our economic problems.

“More than ever before, we must be prepared to listen more, think more and work more.

“We must also consult the abundant pool of experts in Nigeria and abroad to fashion out short, medium and long-term measures for dealing with the crisis and setting our country on the path of sustained economic growth,’’ he said.

Dogara had, in the first quarter of 2017, assured Nigerians of the unwavering commitment of the House to enact legislations that would pull the country out of recession in 2017.

The Speaker said the legislature would implement reforms to the budgeting process that would make it more transparent and devoid of controversies.

According to Dogara, critical bills designed to stimulate the country’s economy such as the Public Procurement Act Amendment bill, Federal Competition Bill, Petroleum Industry bill will also receive expeditious consideration.

The Speaker, however, noted that the 2017 Budget remained the major tool to resuscitate the economy in addition to other fiscal and monetary policies.

“We must brace up and work conscientiously to give Nigerians a budget that will not only lift us out of recession but kick start the needed expeditious journey into Nigeria’s prosperity.

“The recent fiscal measures including import prohibition of certain items and the increase or decrease of tariff on some items should receive appropriate legislative scrutiny to ensure that the economy and the interests of our people are protected.

“The House of Representative is not resting on its oars as it is currently working on 83 bills to reform Nigerian laws that would be passed before December,’’ he said.

He also observed further that the House of Representatives synergised with the Senate to pass the 2017 Budget of N7.4 trillion.

Spokesman of the House of Representatives, Rep. Abdulrazak Namdas, stressed that there was no better option than to expedite action towards having the budget passed, especially as the National Assembly and the Presidency were in agreement on key aspects of the Appropriations Bill.

“I can tell you that the leadership of the National Assembly met severally with the Executive’s team led by the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to streamline the budget to ensure it tallies with priority areas of the Federal Government.

Namdas added that due to the thorough nature of the work done on the budget; there would be little or no issues with the executive implementing it.

This notwithstanding, some Nigerians have called for a review of the country’s budgetary process to reflect a more transparent and robust procedure.

They observe that review of the process will eliminate all forms of delay in passing the budget.

In his view, Mr Sagir Tijani, a lawyer, expressed concern that the country may suffer repeated delays in passing its annual budgets because of inconsistencies.

“In most cases, issue of acrimony between the National Assembly and the Presidency has been responsible for budget delays since the inception of democratic rule.

“Since 1999, budget for a particular year was not passed until the middle of that year. This has consistently made nonsense of Nigeria’s budgets,’’ Tijani said.

Also, Mr Emmanuel Iroegbulam, a political analyst, said that the fundamental focus of the Federal Government’s proposal in the budget was to make practical impact in areas that mattered most to Nigerians. “However, the controversy that surrounded the 2016 Appropriation Bill fell below this expectation.

“This is because the budgeting process gave room to padding, missing, subterranean and withdrawal attempt, among others,’’ Iroegbulam said.

But Rep. Ayoade Ojoawo (Oyo-APC) said that the 2017 budget of N7.44 trillion gave credence to every topical issue the country needed to address.
“This, in turn, will boost the economy if we only cooperate and ensure that the budgeting system works effectively,’’ Ojoawo added.

As Nigeria marks Democracy Day on May 29, perceptive observers are of the view that the current House of Representatives has become proactive, pragmatic, people-oriented and focused.

They observe that in the context of the House Agenda, sectoral debates are introduced on various aspects of the Nigerian economy as part of legislative initiatives to address national problems.

The first phase dealt with the diversification of the economy and has been largely concluded; the House of Representatives started the novel debates beginning with diversification of the economy.

The objective of the sectoral debates is to deepen engagement of lawmakers and the executive on national development policy issues and to promote the enactment of appropriate laws to enhance Nigeria’s economic growth and development.

At the inaugural debate, ministries of Information and Culture, Agriculture and Rural Development, Solid Minerals Development, Communications, Industry, Trade and Commerce and Finance, made presentations on the sectors they oversee.

Concerned Nigerians hold the belief that the debates have helped to improve executive-legislature relations.

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We must brace up and work conscientiously to give Nigerians a budget that will not only lift us out of recession but kick start the needed expeditious journey into Nigeria’s prosperity. The recent fiscal measures including import prohibition of certain items and the increase or decrease of tariff on some items should receive appropriate legislative scrutiny to ensure that the economy and the interests of our people are protected.