Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday blamed the tension between the executive and the legislature on weak party structures, saying that it was not acceptable for any lawmaker to create roadblocks in the path of programmes for which a party was elected into power.
The vice-president said this in Abuja at an event organised by the National Institute for Agency and Strategic Studies (NIPPS) with the theme, “Political Party Supremacy and the Dynamics of Parliamentary Autonomy in Nigeria: Towards a More Harmonious Relationship.”
Osinbajo, who was represented by his Special Assistant, Political Matters, Mr. Babafemi Ojudu, said while it was good to pay attention to the tension between the executive and the legislature, he said there was no cause for alarm because the country’s democracy was work in progress and shall continue to get better.
He blamed the present tension between the legislature and the executive on the inability of party leaders to build strong political parties, adding that several party members usually decide to cross carpet the moment their party is no longer in power.
According to him, “On the issue of supremacy and autonomy, concern should be directed at strengthening our political parties. As things stand today, our political parties are very weak.
“We need to be able to strengthen them and that’s also why I disagree with our former Senate President Ken Nnamani who says Nigerians have a right under the constitution to go from one party to the other.
“If we keep jumping from one party to the other, there will be no way we are going to strengthen the existing ones. People should be able to stay in their political parties and work at strengthening them.
“Leaders built parties and not that you jump to a party today because it is winning and abandon the one that is not winning, and when tomorrow that party that is winning, we jump back to another party, we are not planning to strengthen the parties.
“We should remember that the parties fashion philosophies and ideologies for which they mobilise, they recruit members and draw up manifestos; they sponsor candidates for elective offices, both in the executive and the legislature.
“So when you see the tension we have now, it is because we have not paid adequate attention to building strong parties. Where the party is strong and it understands its mission, it will promote its ideology and make its elected officials to subscribe to its ideology and manifesto.
“Where disagreements arise, these are argued and strengthened out at the level of caucuses within the party. The executive will come together and bring members of the caucuses of the National Assembly or the state assemblies together, they will argue and debate, everybody will be there and decide on a position.
“So you never get to hear about disagreements on the pages of newspaper or on the floors of parliament.”
In this regard, the vice-president called on political actors in Nigeria to build strong parties.
“It is unacceptable for a lawmaker elected by a party that produced the leader of the executive to get up in the parliament and drag down such official, that is the duty of the opposition.
“You cannot disparage your own party, you cannot disparage officials elected by your own party.
“The only thing that can lead to that is when both the people in the legislature and the executive must have gotten there based on issues and ideals they don’t subscribe to.
“If that is the case, should there be any disagreement at all, there should be an avenue for resolving that disagreement.
“It is not acceptable for any lawmaker to create roadblocks on the path of programmes for which his party was elected to power. If your party has an acceptable manifesto and based on this manifesto the people voted for that party and voted you too into the parliament, how dare you build a roadblock and ensure that the programmes for which people voted for you are not allowed to proceed for the benefit of the people?” Osinbajo asked.
Elaborating, Osinbajo noted that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was elected on the electioneering promises made to the people that it would provide security across the country, fight corruption, diversify the economy and provide for the poor people of the country.
“When you subscribe to these and you now get to the parliament and make it your duty to dismantle this, then there is a problem,” he said.
Osinbajo stressed further that the parties that operated in the First and Second Republics were very strong and their members were committed to their ideals and abided by them, noting that the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) subscribed to a particular set of ideals, “same applied to the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP)”.
“It does appear that these days we just look for a party or a medium convenient for us for winning elections and realising our ambitions. The moment we do that, we begin to plot some other things looking forward to another election and looking forward to another medium that will enable us win the next election. By doing this, we are not building any party.
“My submission is that all of us must resolve here today and see how we can begin to build very strong parties. Today, we cannot talk of strong parties in Nigeria.
“The PDP is on death row, the APC is gasping for breath. Therefore, it is very important that in building our party we must also look out for leaders that can work assiduously to mobilise people, leaders with conviction, leaders who are independent, leaders who are courageous, leaders who have capacity, and leaders who are disciplinarians.
“If we have these leaders and we appoint them to lead our parties both at the national level and at local levels, we can start talking of political parties that will deliver the dividends of democracy to the people,” he said.
In his contribution, Senate President Bukola Saraki said parliamentary autonomy was the true definition of a functional democratic government, adding that the framers of the constitution recognised the independence of the National Assembly in choosing its leaders and carrying out legislative roles.
He stated that unlike the states Houses of Assemblies, the National Assembly was multi-ethnic by its making, adding: “These differences explain why it is difficult for the executive arm of government to coax and silence the legislature like it has done most times at the state level.”
Saraki, who was represented by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence, Senator Abubakar Kyari, noted that “there is no gain saying that we need civility in all aspects of our politics; as a guide to relations within parties, among parties, among candidates, between candidates and the electorate”.
Saraki lamented that the absence of harmony was a fundamental threat to the conduct of partisan politics and democratisation in today’s Nigeria.
“The elite, especially political leaders, have a responsibility to eschew bitterness and confrontation, and promote harmony and peaceful coexistence in politics as well as in all aspects of governance in the Nigerian polity.
“I fully support the code of conduct for political parties and politicians in the country. This will help to regulate behaviour and ensure some uniformity in the management of affairs of the party.
“We need such a code to retrain ourselves on all the rules in the world about electoral contests and governance,” the Senate President said.
Saraki also noted that political party supremacy places the overall interest of a political party over and above that of the individuals who make up the party.
According to him, “The party manifesto is the mandate of a government with detailed policy measures that would address the expectations and needs of the electorate.
“Once an election is won, the manifesto becomes the covenant between the party and the people. It is difficult to discuss party supremacy without a manifesto.
“When there is no strategy by a political party in achieving its manifesto, it becomes very difficult to assert its supremacy over its members.”
In his keynote speech, former Senate President Nnmani said there was need for a harmonious relationship between the legislature and the executive in order to promote good governance.
He noted that one of the ways to achieve this sort of harmony, in spite of the potential conflict implicit in partisan politics, was through leadership ideas, through the nuances of reasoning and persuasion, rather than through coercion and personality attacks.
Nnamani said: “The problem in Nigeria is that our party system has not developed as it ought to, many legislators don’t understand how to be good party members and remain effective legislators.
“The relationship between legislators and their party leadership is not based on personality or personal issues. It is based on the party’s policy platforms, which become the ruling party’s legislative agenda.
“When such agenda is robustly promoted by the leadership of the party there will be little room for disagreements between the party and its legislators.
“If there is no such agenda and the harmonious relationship is promoted on the basis of personal feelings and opinions, it is not going to be sustainable.
“Legislators will easily resist the idiosyncrasies of party leaders but will be very amendable to well-argued party policies and programmes.”
Nnamani affirmed that both the executive and legislature are independent but noted that they must depend on one another for effectiveness.
“The independence of the legislature does not mean the recklessness or irresponsibility of the legislature. It means that the legislature regulates itself in working together with other branches for the promotion of good governance,” he said.
Also, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, said party supremacy and discipline was an assumption, noting that there was need for the executive to negotiate with legislatures in order to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.
He stressed that one side cannot reform or innovate without negotiating, stressing that “negotiation is an act; it is not a wish; it is not an assumption”.
He wondered: “What are the best alternatives that we will need to work with to get results to the Nigerian people?
“The position I think we should be pushing is the act of negotiation. Not just between the National Assembly and executive but the judiciary as well.
“If those in government refuse to negotiate to move things forward for the young people that are coming up, 30 years from now, we will not be able to live in our country anymore,” he stated.
(Thisday)
