Senate/Executive Tango: Who Benefits? -By Abdulsalam Jubril

The recent and ongoing superiority and egoistic feuds particularly between the upper legislative chambers and the Presidency has undoubtedly cast a dark cloud over the polity. The feud since it began is reaching dangerous proportions and if not abated soon, might just engulf all and sundry.

It is said that when two elephants are fighting, the grass suffers. In this case, obviously we the people are the proverbial grass that is bearing the brunt of the battle of the two elephants. As a result of the feud, the Senate has presently embarked on a nonsensical strike. Hence, the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) confirmation has been stalled and the passing of the 2017 budget will yet be delayed.

We all know how important the passing and implementation of a budget is to us as a country. When the budget was presented to the National Assembly, some of us thought by now it should have been passed. However, we are heading into the 4^th month of 2017, and there is no inkling that the budget will be passed by NASS anytime soon.

One wonders, why this feud when many of the actors are seemingly from the same political party. Then again it is very obvious that the ruling party lacks coherence and unity amongst themselves. Apparently, wrestling power from the PDP who was the “common enemy” was the common goal at that time. That common goal has since been replaced by individualism, stomach infrastructure, ego brandishing and power play/politics; hence the infighting.

In retrospect, this feud began on how and when the leadership of the Senate emerged. While Mr. President understandably didn’t want to interfere with how the leader of the upper chamber emerged due to separation of powers, has led to where we are today. This was political naiveness on the part of the President. There is what is called back-channeling or influencing events behind the scenes which he erroneously didn’t do.

If the President had done the aforementioned, would have ensured that the leadership of the Senate will be in sync with his policies and not the impasse that is currently staring us in the face. The Magu saga and other recent imbroglios that have been overheating the polity wouldn’t have emerged.

On the part of Mr. President, his silence over certain issues is deafening. There are certain matters where he should have or needs to stamp his authority. The Department of State Security (DSS) report on Magu that was issued to the Senate was ordinarily not supposed to be. The DSS is under the Executive and as such reports to the Presidency. The head of the DSS under the constitution is even appointed by the President. This goes to show that it is not always necessary that your kinsman will be loyal to you.

There have been calls from various quarters that the President’s kitchen cabinet is the albatross hindering the free-flow and success of this administration. The First Lady alluded to this. El-Rufai, a staunch supporter of Mr. President has also made reference to this. It’s almost 2-years into this administration, isn’t it high time Mr. President reshuffles his cabinet and relieves underperforming persons and those considered to be impediments to his administration.

With regards to the Magu saga, it has too many political undertones and is not unconnected to the anti-corruption fight. It may just be a case were corruption is fighting back and without holding brief for Magu, has performed considerably well in his acting capacity thus far. However, Magu cannot be the only person that can effectively fight corruption in the country. The President should note that sometimes in a war, some battles are strategically lost in order to win the entire war. Avid chess players also know this.

The recent suspension of a Senator by the Senate for exercising his rights and privileges as a Senator and also the summoning of Itse Sagay for censuring the Senate is setting a dangerous precedent that isn’t auguring well for our budding democracy. Advertently or inadvertently, the Senate is trying to stifle freedom of speech. Similarly, the Senate through its 6-months suspension punitive measure (which arguably does not have the right to suspend a fellow Senator for that long) is also a way of instilling fear on any Senator who may be willing to go against its leadership.

To many discerning Nigerians, the Senate seems to be the villain in the ongoing saga. They are largely seen to be overstepping its boundaries, abusing its powers and engaging in blatant blackmailing. Well as someone put it, what do you expect from a Senate that has turned out to be a retiree home of ex-governors? For me however, it is the generality of the populace who voted for the Senators and President that are suffering the consequences of their actions, inaction and shenanigans. Certainly, this is not the change many Nigerians wished, hoped, fought and voted for.

Written by Abdulsalam Jubril
You can follow me on Twitter via @Abdul_Jubril