In the last five years, there has been a relative improvement in the executive-legislature relationship. Assistant Editor Onyedi Ojiabor writes on the factors that account for the situation.
There is the popular belief that the business of government usually sufffers whenever the relationship between the executive and the legislature is strained.
To observers, the constant feud between the two critical organs of government usually affects the effectiveness of the government in its bid to deliver the dividends of democracy to the electorate. Besides, the constant conflict between the executive and legislature could put the nation’s democracy in danger, if not properly tackled.
During the days of former Prsident Olusegun Obasanjo, there were several attempts to muzzle the legislature. But the attempt to assert the independence of the legislature, considering its constitutional role in the political arrangement, invariably brought it on collision with the executive. This led to frequent frictions between the two arms of government.
The protracted face-off took a life of notoriety under the past adminisration, with the removal of three Senate Presidents in three years.
In the circumstances that led to the removal of Senators Evan(s) Enwerem, Chuba Okadigbo or Adolphus Wabara, as senate presidents, the connivance, collusion or involvement of the executive arm of government was always alleged.
Most National Assembly watchers at the time saw the Presidency as the unseen hand behind the crisis of confidence that almost wrecked the Senate.
But President Olusegun Obasanjo was resisted by the House of Representatives where attempts to unseat former Speaker Ghali Umar Na’Abba was aborted.
The executive arm, with its awesome powers, was more inclined to overturning the leadership of any Senate President or House Speaker that refused to bend to its dictates.
Such was the situation that pervaded the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly in the eight years when Obasanjo held sway.
However, the situation has since improved substantially, with the departure of Obasanjo from the seat of power and the inauguration of President Umaru Yar’Adua and the Goodluck Jonathan presidency.
The Office of the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, apparently, had this in mind when it decided to host a two-day conference in Abuja on the executive-legislature relations.
However, the conference started on a controversial note. It was reported that the House of Representatives adopted a motion to stay away from the talk-shop. It turned out that there was no such motion.
Instead, the House, in what was described as an unprecedented show of solidarity to the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, adjourned plenary and literally shifted base to the international conference centre, Abuja, to attend the conference.
House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal later explained that the House took the unanimous decision to adjourn plenary for one day to attend the conference to demonstrate that the report of boycott by the House was not only unfounded, but absolutely hollow.
Tambuwal also said the huge attendance of members was an indication that the House could go for anything that would guarantee political stability.
To underscore his interest in the talk-shop, Tambuwal lauded the conference, describing it as a forum for the executive and the legislature to learn new ways of relating with each other to stimulate harmony in governance.
The Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Joy Emodi, who set the tone for the conference, said the interaction became necessary, given the complementary role the two arms of government were expected to play in governance.
The conference, with the theme: ‘Strengthening Executive-Legislature collaboration in governance,’ Mrs Emodi said, was part of the efforts of her office to consolidate the gains of the past and to explore new and more meaningful ways of strengthening executive-legislature relations in the country.
Participants believed that building a better understanding between the executive and the legislature is a dynamic process, and underscoreds the essence of the conference.
Many internationally-acclaimed resource persons, drawn from experienced democracies, including United States, South Africa, Jamaica and from within the country, did justice to the conference.
Former Senate President Joseph Wayas declared that a legislature that exists to rubber-stamp all the pronouncements of the executive cannot be said to be democratic.
He said that absolute separation of powers does not exist any where.
“If there was absolute separation of powers, there will not be govern-ment”, Wayas added.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who inaugurated the talk shop, declared that the executive and legislature were neither competing nor in battle for supremacy.
Represented by Vice-President Namadi Sambo, Jonathan said the members of the two arms of government were only messengers elected to bring democratic goods.
“Our roles, duties and responsibilities are well defined and there is no reason, whatsoever, for us not to work together for the greatness of our country” he added.
For Jonathan, there was no need for any rivalry between the two arms as both arms were not competitors but part of the same government elected by the people to deliver the dividends of democracy.
He added that, while the presidential system of government had separation of powers as one of its cardinal principles, it did not mean that the arms of government should work at cross purposes.
“The executive and legislature are not in competition; we are not in a battle for supremacy. We are all messengers sent on an errand to bring democratic goods to the people.
“I have maintained a policy of non-interference in the activities of the National Assembly.
“But let me correct the impression that any disagreement between the executive and legislature amounts to a fight.
“Parties may differ on issues but national interest must be collective and overriding,” Jonathan submitted.
The President did not end his address without adding that “today, we have a stable National Assembly and a cordial atmosphere suitable for the conduct of parliamentary business.
“What Nigerians want and deserve is good governance to the highest standards. The relationship between the executive and the legislature is not about the two arms but it is about the governed.
“It is about harnessing our constitutional powers and God-given talents, and deploying our positions as public servants to drive our progress as a nation,” the President said.
Senate President David Mark said the executive and legislature operates on the same wave-length except that sometimes each arm sees things from different perspectives.
Mark was however, quick to add that the occasional friction between both arms was necessary to put each other in check and prevent tyranny in the system. He underscored the fact that what the system needed was not competition but the collaboration of the two arms of government.
The Chairman of the African National Congress (ANC), Ms Baleka Mbete, agreed that a collaborative executive-legislature relations could be achieved in a country like Nigeria. Mbete spoke on the topic: “Parliamentary majority, the party and the executive: A tripartite for mandate delivery.”
The ANC chair harped on the principle of social contract as fundamental, irrespective of the electoral system applicable (Presidential or Parliamentary). as the mandate vested on the basis of proposals tabled before the electorate.
Rigorous interaction between members of the executive and the parliament, he said, must occur in the parliamentary caucus in order to ensure that there is consensus while members of the majority party define strategies of how to tackle policy issues.
She did not forget to add that it is important that the engagement takes place in an environment based on the notion of collective responsibility by members of the majority party from both sides of the spectrum.
She said if conducted in an open manner between the members of the executive and the Legislature, it could result in approaches that would be beneficial to the State, the party and the country.
She noted that the nexus was to ensure the achievement of the desired societal outcome based on a common policy platform.
Mbete said the interaction by members of the majority party in the executive and legislature, respecting their respective state responsibilities, is embedded in the deep notion of democracy, promoting the separation of powers, the rule of law and the achievement of the growth and development objectives.
“It is inherent in the design of the modern democratic state that there are sufficient checks and balances that will moderate any excesses, thereby completing the cycle of having a balanced, well oiled and well functioning democratic state.”
Also, she said that parliament must ensure that it provides an enabling environment for all parliamentarians to do their work and for the executive to implement parliament policy decisions.
A parliamentarian from Jamaica,Mr. Derrick Smith, spoke on “The opposition in parliament: Reconciling party and national interest for democratic consolidation, good governance and national development.”
Others who presented papers were Ruth Wedgwood, a Professor of Law from the Johns Hopkins University; Professor Okechukwu Oko, who spoke on “Building cordial legislature-executive relations in Nigeria” and Senator Jonathan Silas Zwingina, a former Deputy Senate Leader.
