>Photo: Niran Adedokun
I hope for its own sake that the All Progressives Congress is not
quickly getting carried away with the euphoria of victory to the
extent that it would fail on the promise of change before it even
starts.
Let leaders of the party make no mistake about it, governing Nigeria
is a Herculean task which does not compare to what happened in any of
the states that they have superintended over in one form or the other
in the past 16 years.
Moves, speculated in the media though, being made by leaders of the
party to fill leadership positions in the National Assembly just
clearly indicate that leaders of the APC may not be totally ready for
a departure from the past as they told Nigeria.
I am one of those who reckon that it is impossible to effect any
serious change in Nigeria without an independent, responsive and
responsible legislature. As I always argue, the legislature is the
most important arm of government in a presidential system of
government. The parliament is the guardian of democracy and is
superior to the other two arms whether they execute the laws made by
the legislature or they interpret it. I am persuaded to imagine that
the framers of Nigeria's constitution had this in mind when they
allowed the creation of the legislature in Section 4 of the 1999
Constitution ahead of the executive and judiciary in Sections 5 and 6
respectively.
By this constitution, members of the legislature at the state and
national levels are to perform two major functions, apart from the
representation of the constituencies and districts from which they
were elected.
One as stated in S.4(2) is the making of laws for the peace, order and
good governance of the federation and state(s) and the other, by
S(88), is to direct or cause to be directed investigations into
activities of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, to ensure that
government is held accountable to the people from where it derives its
sovereignty. This is usually referred to as the oversight function of
the legislature.
Now, you must agree, Dear compatriot, that these are extremely
important functions. They make the legislature the gatekeeper between
the other two arms of government. The laws that the legislature makes
guide the judiciary in the dispensation of justice and the executive
in the day to day running of the country or state. In addition to
this, the legislature has oversight functions which allow it apply
measures to check and balance the activities of the executive. This is
in apparent realisation that the enormity of the powers conferred on
the executive could tempt the holder of such powers into abuse.
Given the weight of responsibility which the constitution places on
the legislature especially the National Assembly, I find it
objectionable that rather than bow their heads in shame and apologise
to Nigerians for the utter disappointment that the legislature has
been, members of the National Assembly join us to condemn the
executive for our current situation. Forgive me if I sound too
judgmental but I really do not see what the federal lawmakers
especially the outgoing set have done on behalf of the people.
Take the fundamental question of lawmaking for instance, it has become
really banal to say that a lot of our laws are outdated and out of
tune with modern realities. Some of them have been described as relics
of colonial legislation. For example, the 1677 Statutes of Fraud
remains the law governing the issue of whether writing or not writing
is required for transfer of interests in land while the Real Property
Act of 1845 is still the dominant law on whether a document should be
by writing or by deed.
The situation is especially worse with the criminal justice system.
Laws like the Criminal Code, the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure
Act and the Evidence, which collectively regulates criminal justice
dispensation are outdated and not in tune with extant realities. That
is why a man who connived with others to defraud the Police Pension
Office and pensioners of N27.2bn would get a mere two-year jail
sentence with the option of a N750, 000 fine. This is why people get
away with light or no sentence at all for crimes like rape,
kidnapping, corruption and even terrorism!
That is why I find the pontification of a lot of Nigerians, including
legislators about the oil and gas sector in Nigeria appalling. How
could an assembly which has kept the Petroleum Industry Bill that is
able to reduce the powers of the petroleum minister and bring some
sanity into the sector for about three years without passing it into
law even speak about corruption in that sector?
Read more at Punch:
t.co/uS6DKYbkOh
No comments:
Post a Comment