NASS HAS THE YAM AND THE KNIFE

The ninth National Assembly has suffered much critical public opprobrium on its toadish and subservient relationship with the executive particularly in the area of facilitating the passage of most of the executive bills targeted at acquisition of foreign loans most of which are now ballooning into the threshold of delinquency.

Though the desirability of the loans are not as much in contention when put in the contexts of critical infrastructure that have suffered neglect for decades under various administrations some of the dramatis personae that failed in the noble task ironically are now pontificating on various platforms.

Nevertheless allowing foreign loan to escalate to a point where over 90% of Internally Generated Revenue is required to service interests accruable portends an existential danger to the fiscal survival of the nation, more so when the IGR has remained stagnant or in reversed aggregates over the years due to Covid constraints and depleting oil revenues.

Section 58 (4) of the 1999 (as amended) stipulates that: “Where a bill is presented to the President for assent, he shall within thirty days thereof signify that he assents or that he withholds assent.”

Similarly, section 58 (5) provides: “Where the President withholds his assent and the bill is again passed by each House by two-thirds majority, the bill shall become law and the assent of the President shall not be required.” Both subsections 4 and 5 have been ignored by the president putting both the electoral body and the body politics in cliffhanger. This lacuna presents the NASS a golden opportunity to insulate itself from the dilatory pace of governance that has become customary with the executive under President Buhari’s watch.

Nigerians must not fail to advert their minds to how it took the president six months to appoint ministers whose pedigree and eventual stewardship turned out to be a dejavu of sort.

The National Assembly will do the nation commendable honour by using the next plenary to assert its legislative authority and veto this bill thereby restoring a semblance of urgency in governance.
If there is concerted will, the three readings prerequisite to the veto can be achieved in one day. This feat would perhaps be one of the landmark achievements of the ninth assembly, and a new year gift to Nigerians.

Bukola Ajisola,
bukymany@yahoo.com