National Assembly: Boon Or Bane For Nigeria’s Democracy?

From the Athenian ideology erstwhile the Assembly (Ecclesia) – the main assemblage of antheral citizens could attend, talk and ballot connected important matters of authorities to the contiguous time antiauthoritarian governance, the legislature remains the cardinal diagnostic of this strategy of government.

Nigeria successful her 65 years of nationhood, has experimented ideology astatine antithetic intervals, with the longest being from 1999 to date. In each antiauthoritarian experimentation successful the country, 1 captious instauration that defines this mostly believed champion signifier of authorities is the legislature.

The cardinal question connected the lips of galore observers which look to person defied a precise reply is whether the National Assembly is simply a blessing oregon curse for Nigeria’s democracy?

According to pundits, the National Assembly astatine antithetic intervals oregon sessions since independency appears to beryllium some a blessing and curse for Nigeria’s ideology successful the discharge of its cardinal functions of lawmaking, oversight and representation.

The statement is that done immoderate impactful and radical oriented laws passed, interventions successful captious nationalist issues; checks and balances, due oversight of the executive, the National Assembly is simply a blessing to Nigeria’s democracy.
However, erstwhile the National Assembly becomes complacent successful the discharge of these functions oregon acts to the whims and caprices of the enforcement to the detriment of the people, it is considered a curse to democracy.
One lawsuit that remains outstanding, particularly successful the contiguous antiauthoritarian dispensation, was the aborted 3rd word of erstwhile president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, mostly believed to person been orchestrated by the 5th Assembly.
Speaking connected the substance recently, the erstwhile Senate President, Ken Nnamani, said by adjourning the Senate successful the people of the law amendment process, immoderate senators successful enactment of the measure had a alteration of caput aft interacting with their constituents.

Nnamani besides disclosed that the unrecorded transmission of the plenary connected May 16, 2006, erstwhile an alteration of the constitution to let 3 presumption for Nigeria’s presidents, forced immoderate senators to wantonness enactment for the measure seeking a 3rd word for Obasanjo.

“To beryllium an informed trustee, the senators request to recognize the presumption of their constituents earlier casting their votes. On this basis, the Senate adjourned to let the senators to consult with their constituents astir the constitution amendment. With this intervention, immoderate senators returned with enlightened views.

“We decided to televise the proceedings. Publicising the proceedings was not supported by those who wanted to smuggle into the Constitution the hold of tenure done undefined and darkened procedure,” helium said astatine the nationalist presumption of his book: “STANDING STRONG: Legislative Reforms, Third Term and Other Issues of the 5th Senate.

Coming connected the heels of that was the Senate’s enforcement of Section 145 of the Constitution successful 2010 recongising the past Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan arsenic acting president during the continued ill-health and lack of present deceased erstwhile President Umaru Yar’Adua, christened doctrine of necessity.

Hitherto, erstwhile Obasanjo vetoed the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)
bill, the House of Representatives overrode the veto successful 2000 portion the Senate passed the instrumentality establishing the NDDC which is simply a exemplary for the constitution of determination improvement commissions.

Also successful the erstwhile Assembly, the Senate rejected the information of Lauretta Onochie arsenic a nationalist commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission.

While it claimed that the enactment was based connected national quality principle, the wide content was that the enactment was informed by the contention surrounding her assignment connected relationship of partisanship.
While these and others could beryllium considered arsenic National Assembly’s blessing to Nigeria’s democracy, determination are arsenic instances wherever the enactment oregon inactions of the apex legislature represent it arsenic a curse to the precise strategy that is its oxygen of existence, hence past shows that the instauration is the archetypal unfortunate of abrogation of antiauthoritarian rule.

There is simply a wide content among Nigerians that the National Assembly is simply a toothless bulldog which barks astatine the enforcement without biting oregon plays on with the precise limb of authorities which it is empowered to oversight, bringing astir the sobriquet of rubber-stamp assembly.
Instances abound wherever the National Assembly successful the discharge of its oversight relation embarked connected probes which did not spot the airy of the time oregon their outcomes were not known till the extremity of a peculiar legislative session.

In the 9th Assembly for example, peculiarly successful the House of Representatives 1 of the probes which generated overmuch nationalist involvement but went the mode of the others wa...