Ahmad Lawan, the president of the Nigerian Senate, has acknowledged that many Nigerians have referred to the National Assembly under his leadership as a “rubber stamp” legislative.
When announcing the first group of new lawmakers’ induction on Tuesday in Abuja, the Senate President made reference to this.
He claimed that despite being referred to be a rubber stamp, the Ninth Senate was conscious of the detrimental effects of continual conflict with the presidency and how it affected legislative efforts.
But the senator said, “We were also aware that in order to achieve successful and efficient delivery of services to the people, a good working relationship is desirable and even essential.”
Therefore, under my leadership, the Ninth National Assembly adopted a cordial yet professional approach to ties between the executive and legislative branches, Lawan continued.
This was concentrated on creating a positive working environment based on respect, consultation, cooperation, partnership, and cooperation.
Ahmed continued, “This approach to engaging with the executive has led to a misperception and misunderstanding, which has led many to tag the Ninth National Assembly as a ‘rubber stamp’ assembly.”
According to Lawan, “Our intention in preferring an engagement with the executive based on harmony and collaboration has been to better serve Nigeria by providing a safe atmosphere for national development.”
In terms of the quantity and caliber of bills filed, passed, and signed, he thought the Ninth Senate did well.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has advised the incoming members of the 10th National Assembly to have impeachable conversations.
Gbajabiamila congratulated the elected officials and asked them to support their positions with high-caliber work in their roles.
“For those of us in the legislature, this means that the quality of our law-making and advocacy, the excellence of our constituency services, the thoroughness of our oversight activities, and the substance of our discourse in the chamber must be unimpeachable,” said the speaker.