Eighth Assembly: Parting shots of a troubled Senate

The Eighth National Assembly started on a turbulent note on June 9, 2015. It was a day of drama and more drama. The All Progressives Congress (APC), which secured majority of the seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives in that year’s election, was basking in the euphoria of its victory. It was excited that for the first time in 16 years of Nigeria’s return to democracy, the opposition was not only shoving aside a ruling party, but also supplanting it at the National Assembly.

Perhaps, the celebration got far too prolonged and the party could not prepare itself well enough for the leadership challenge at the National Assembly. The party attempted a zoning arrangement which got muted just after a meeting of its national caucus. Then it decided to micro-zone the presiding officer positions. The Senate Presidency was to be ceded to Senator Ahmad Lawan, while the position of Speaker was to be allotted Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila.

But that decision came well after camps have been formed and contenders have gone far in building supporters among themselves.  The new Peoples Democratic Party (n-PDP) faction which teamed up with the APC ahead of the 2015 election had thought that with the two legacy parties that formed the APC having locked down the position of President and Vice President, the headship of the parliament should be ceded to it.

That was not to be as Lawan and Gbajabiamila belonged to the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) respectively. So, a revolt was afoot and the n-PDP faction took the Presiding officer positions in the Senate and the House on June 9, following the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and Speaker respectively.  At the Senate, a hybrid parliament was foisted with Senator Ike Ekweremadu of the PDP emerging the Deputy Senate President.

That created the stage for the turbulent parliamentary sessions that characterised executive/legislative processes of the Eighth Assembly thus far. Though President Muhammadu Buhari had pledged that he would work with whoever emerged the leader of the Senate and the House, subsequent actions by his government clearly showed that the promise was observed largely in breach.

Under his watch, the Senate “downed tools” for the first time in its history owing to what they called apparent disregard and lack of attention to series of motions and bills passed by the chamber. The chamber kept a number of nominations from the President at bay as its own way of fighting the uncooperative measures from the executive. As a result of the lack of cooperation between the executive and the legislature, budgets under the session under review are hardly passed on time, as the lawmakers complained persistently of refusal of Ministries, Departments and Agencies(MDAs) to defend their budget proposals on time, while the executive never consulted with the legislature in preparing the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper(FSP) which are the foundations of the budget and major cause of the delay in its passage. It has been the situation of the bird that hangs on a rope. As the bird persistently bends forth and back, the rope cannot also be at rest. Neither the bird nor the rope can enjoy tranquil peace. At least, 25 bills passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly have been rejected by the President. The Senate had to set up a Technical Committee headed by Senator David Umaru to examine the reasons cited by the President in rejecting those bills. Of the 17 bills it examined in the first instance, the Committee recommended the override of the President’s veto on two of the bills, while a number of others are to be redrafted for further presentation.

A classic case of the back and forth between the executive and the legislature is the Electoral Act Amendment bill 2019, which was rejected on four different occasions between February 2018 and January 2019. An executive that liaises directly and constantly with the legislature in an interdependent mode cannot treat the nation to such a macabre dance.

Following his emergence against the wishes of the powers that be at the APC, Saraki, the head of the legislature became the target of several plots aimed at returning the Senate to the control of “true” APC loyalists. The Senate Unity Forum (SUF) is a body of Senators loyal to the APC who attempted to enforce the party’s order by creating discontent from within the chambers. That internal insurrection in the Senate lasted for two years before Saraki eventually allowed the installation of Senator Ahmad Lawal, the original choice of the APC for the Senate Presidency, as Senate Majority Leader.

But the Senate President continued to fight for his political life at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, where he had been dragged for alleged failure to declare assets in line with the Code of Conduct for public officials.  Saraki was left off the hook at the Supreme Court only in August 2018, just at the eve of nominations for the 2019 general elections.

With the 2019 general elections having been won and lost, the focus of the 8th Assembly moved from mere politicking to legacy issues. And so far, the lawmakers of the outgoing Assembly have fared quite well. Within weeks of its reconvening after the elections, the Senate had received reports from its Committee on Judiciary and Legal Matters, Police Affairs, Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy as well as the Technical Committee for the review of the rejected bills by President Muhammadu Buhari.

On April 10, the Senate received the report of its Technical Committee and resolved to override President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto on two of the rejected bills. The two Constitution amendment bills which the Senate seeks to override the President include The Constitution of the Federal Republic, 1999(Fourth Alteration, N0.28) Amendment bill 2017 which seeks make it mandatory for the President and Governor of a state to lay the annual budget estimates before parliament, three months to the end of a financial year and the Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Amendment Bill, 2018

The chamber also agreed and passed the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, Stamp Duties (Amendment) Bill and nine other bills earlier rejected by the President. 11 of the 17 originally rejected bills are to be reconsidered, while four are to be withdrawn.

Last week, the Senate passed the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) again for assent, while also passing the Police Trust Fund bill as well as the Police Reform bills.

The bills passed are by no means landmark achievements that should positively affect the running of the government and the policing of the country.

Chairman, Police Affairs Committee of the Senate, Senator Tijajani Kaura, said in the report submitted to the Senate that the Police Reform bill “seeks to among other things provide for a Police Force that is more responsible and responsive to the needs of the general public and has entrenched in its operations, the values of fairness, justice, equity, accountability.”

He said that the Police that would evolve from the reform would partner effectively with the Community it serves, adding that the laws that govern Policing in the country have remained static since promulgation in 1943.

The bill was eventually passed with provisions that ensure tenure stability for the Inspector General of the Police, his confirmation by the Senate and training and retraining for Policemen.

While contributing to the bill before its passage, Senator Gbenga Ashafa (APC-Lagos East), said that the Senate has to look at what the Bill stands for and address issues such as welfare and the environment in which Policemen work.

The Bill was passed with unanimous consent of the lawmakers, with Senate President Bukola Saraki declaring that when passed, the bill would “ensure that the Police officers are of better condition and are more productive.”

Saraki further said: “We want to ensure that our people are protected at all time. I think this is a very great achievement for all of us and I hope we continue to provide better security for our people, protect lives and citizens.

“This will go a long way to show that we are a listening Parliament, listening Senate and there is nothing better we can do in honour of those who have lost their lives along the way due to the fact that our laws at that time were not in line.”

While the Police Reform Bill is still awaiting concurrence of the House of Representatives, the Police Trust Fund Bill also passed by the Senate is now ready for assent of the President.  The bill was passed last Tuesday following the recommendation of the Police Affairs Committee as well and the move for concurrence by the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan.

The Senate stated that a key objective of the bill is to improve funding for the Nigeria Police Force.

Senate President Bukola Saraki also told his colleagues that the passage of the bill had ensured that the Eighth Senate had fulfilled its promise to pass the bill before expiration of the 8th Assembly.

He said: “By passing this bill, we will be creating big strides towards providing and improving security and policing in our country.

“One of the major concerns has always been the issue of funding. We believe that this bill will provide the funding needed for training and recruitment.

“I am confident that by the time we lay the report on the Police Reform Bill, we would have gone a long way in moving the police in the right direction.

“It is our view that once we have these police bills as laws, we will relieve the burden on the military, so that it can focus on its constitutional responsibility.”

The Police Trust Fund Bill, is aimed at setting up the framework that would ensure adequate funding for the Police as well as the management and control of the special intervention funds established under the Act.

• Buhari has performed below average —Shekarau

Besides the provision for confirmation of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) by the Senate, the Reform bill also provides that the officer to be named the IGP would be recommended by the Police Council, while the Trust Fund recommends that a percentage of profits of all companies operating in Nigeria will go to the Fund.

The lawmakers stated that the  Fund would utilised to enhance the skills of the personnel of the Police in order to ensure efficiency, overall performance, constant improvement as well as the procurement of necessary operational equipment, instructional materials, police stations and living quarters of Policemen.

Besides passing laws that would enhance security, the chamber has also taken up issues on the Economic front in these last days. The passage of the re-drafted PIGB as well as the review of the Stamp Duties Amendment Bill 2018 earlier rejected by the President are aimed at affecting the economic front.

Similarly, the Senate, in deciding to   override the President’s veto on the Constitution alteration bill number 28, which seeks to   provide time frame for the President and governors to present budgets before the National and state Assemblies also have the economy in mind.  The bill seeks to fast track the process of budget passage by ensuring early presentation of the budget estimates, which in turn would ensure early passage. President Buhari had rejected the bill by stating that Section 2(b) and Section 3(b) of the bill appear not to take full cognisance of the provisions of Section 58(4) of the 1999 Constitution.

But after further checks, the lawmakers discovered that Section 58(4) only deals with the mode of exercising federal legislative powers; general, particularly, the number of days to assent or decline assent to a bill. The lawmakers thus rejected the veto and decided to override the same after discovering that the excuse for its rejection was not in tandem with constitutional provisions.

Principally, the bill seeks to compel President or Governor to present budget estimates before the parliament not later than 90 days to the end of the financial year, while the parliament must pass the same into law before the commencement of the next financial year.  This measure would have ended the cycle of budget delays financial analysts often claim is the bane of budget implementation in the country.

By and large, the Eighth Senate and by extension, the outgoing Eighth National Assembly is trying to etch itself in the annals of history as implanting landmark measures in the political and economic fronts. If it sees the bills to logical end, it would have succeeded in largely erasing the travails it suffered at the start of this troubled session.