A professor of Political Science at the University of Ibadan, OBC Nwolise, speaks with MOSES ALAO on the impasse between the Presidency and the National Assembly and expectations for the reconciliation committee headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
FOR some time now, there has been a sort of face-off between the National Assembly and the Presidency. Going by the principles of checks and balances, there is always bound to be frictions; so what do you make of the ongoing developments?
They must be healthy frictions and not unhealthy ones. The thing is that this question is coming a little late, because the presidency has set up a reconciliation panel headed by the vice-president. That should douse whatever tension unless there are deep-seated narrow reasons, which are neither national nor patriotic. If it is just a matter of separation of powers and the fact that each arm of government is protecting its powers and areas of influence, then it should be easy for them to settle. But if there are entrenched interests; if there is bitterness, and perceived unfairness and maltreatment or one arm trying to dominate the other, then it will not be easy to settle.
How do you think the crisis can be resolved in the interest of the Nigerian public?
I will advise that we look at what the vice-president’s team will be able to achieve in the next two weeks. We also appeal to both sides to place Nigeria’s interests first, because if the Senate or the National Assembly decides to say no, we must prevail over certain issues; the EFCC acting chairman issue, the Customs’ boss issue and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation issue, that will be a test of strength. It will no longer be about Nigerian’s interests. Of course, the Senate has taken position that when it comes to fighting corruption in the National Assembly, the Presidency has a different method from fighting corruption within its own fold. So, it is the job of the reconciliation committee of the vice-president to douse the tension and remove that belief, which is already entrenched in the minds of the senators.
The truth is that the reconciliation committee itself is coming a little late. The struggle between the two arms started as far back as June 2015. I recall saying it on a national television programme that given what happened in the National Assembly on June 8, 2015, the change Nigerians voted for was already in chains. We are still in the chains till today. There is supposed to be what I call a strategic cabinet, different from the president’s kitchen cabinet and also different from the president’s political cabinet and ministers. That strategic cabinet is supposed to be made up of the president, the vice-president, the Senate president, the Speaker, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation and the national chairman of the ruling party. That is what a strategic is and it is what shows that the government is moving with a united purpose. But as of now, even within the All Progressives Congress (APC), there is crisis; between the parliament and the presidency, there is crisis. We just escaped a crisis between the executive and the judiciary, so there is no unity of purpose. The country is not being pulled in one direction. That is what the strategic cabinet should have been able to achieve so that when the party leaders meet and say we promise Nigerians A, B, C but for now, we have money for just A and B, the strategic cabinet will meet and tell the parliament leaders to go and work on the approval for funds release. They will say these are the people that we believe can do the job for us; we believe in Magu and know that he can do the job. So go and clear him in the parliament and since the Senate president would be part of that cabinet, he would just go and convince his colleagues that “this is the man that we want.” Right now, however, there is no unity of purpose; the National Assembly is going in one direction and the presidency is going in another direction. That is the situation we have now. But let us hope that the reconciliation team will be able to heal these wounds that have been there since June 2015. Painfully, the committee is coming a bit late but I hope things can still move forward.
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