President Goodluck Jonathan and Senate President, David Mark, on Wednesday canvassed stronger collaboration between the Executive and Legislature in the country
Jonathan and Mark underscored the fact that the Executive and Legislative arms of government are not in any supremacy battle as erroneously assumed in some quarters.
Both spoke at a two-day conference on Executive-Legislature relations with the theme “Strengthening Executive-Legislature collaboration in governance.”
The conference was organized by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, in Abuja.
Jonathan who was represented at the event by the Vice President, Arch. Namadi Sambo noted that the conference was part of the effort in the advancement of good governance and development in the country.
He added that it underscored the need for harmony in political purpose between the Executive and the Legislature.
While Jonathan insisted that the executive and legislature are not in competition or in a battle for supremacy, Mark on his part said that there is no competition between the two arms of government.
Mark emphasized that both arms of government are on the same wavelength, the only difference being that sometimes, they view things from different perspectives.
He said that it is the minor difference that sometimes gives the impression that there is friction.
But the Senate President was quick to add that “this difference is necessary for democracy to survive because if you allow excess power in one direction, we all know the result; there would be tyranny, there would be misuse of power and abuse of power.”
Jonathan said that he looked forward to the conference because of its significance in his governance philosophy.
The President noted that he is a strong believer in consensus building and cordial relationship between difference arms of government.
The conference, he said, is another avenue to continue to promote the common agenda of transforming the country’s political, economic and social progress.
He noted that it is generally agreed that no perfect form of government exists for now, saying however that “there is no better alternative to democracy where people are allowed to freely elect their representatives through the ballot which gives democracy clear advantage over other forms of government.”
He said, “As elected representatives of the people of Nigeria, we hold power in trust for them and we must exercise this power responsibly and to their benefit.
“Power, I must emphasis, belongs to the people, not to those who the people elect.
“That is why no matter the form or level of power entrusted in us, we have a duty to put the people first in all that we do.
“We often talk about the principle of separation of power in order to emphasize that every arm of government is constitutionally independent of one another with accompanying concept of check and balances as required by the presidential system of government.
“My understanding is that while separation of power means every arm of government operates independently, checks and balances implies that the three arms of government are interdependent, they need one another to function optimally.
It is not about subjugation or subordinating one arm to the other. Rather, it is about being partners in progress.”
Jonathan noted it is gratifying that in a few years of the country’s democratic practice, Executive-Legislature relationship has made appreciable progress.
Though he recognized that there had been sour times and challenges he said the level of understanding, maturity and cooperation has certainly been on the rise.”
“I note that the relationship thrives when complementary, not when competitive and we just have to improve on this,” he said.
