A chieftain of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressive Congress, Salihu Lukman, has indicted the current National Assembly, dominated by his party for failing to represent the interest of Nigerians.
Lukman, who is a former National Vice Chairman North-west of the APC indicted his party in a statement issued on Tuesday.
He expressed displeasure at the lack of accountability in and between both chambers of the Assembly, and the Assembly’s failure in holding the executive arm accountable.
He noted that the lawmakers function as though they were employees of the executive. “Until and unless the parliament can free itself from the president, it will almost be impossible for it to develop the capacity of defending and protecting the interests of Nigerians,” he said.
He lamented the reckless haste with which the National Assembly approves proposals from the executive even when they are detrimental to the public interest.
“The point is, Nigerian democracy, as it is, is not functionally representing the interest of citizens largely because the parliament represented by the two chambers of the National Assembly – Senate and House of Representatives – have involuntarily submitted themselves to the narcissistic control of the president.”
It should be noted that the Nigerian Senate under the leadership of Senate President Godswill Akpabio has been a puppet to President Bola Tinubu’s administration. Last week, Akpabio said if the President requests the purchase of a new presidential jet, the Senate would approve it. This is amid economic hardships faced by the Nigerian masses.
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