Democracy has been touted as the best form of government as it is the type of government that is of the people by the people and for the people. The political philosophers that created the three arms of government; the executive, the legislature and the judiciary understood the human proclivity to abuse any form of power and advanced those three arms for effective checks and balances in a democracy. Ideally, everything should work out well for the people if the three arms carry out their duties effectively and transparently.
African countries had pretty much effective forms of government before the colonial powers brought their influences to the continent. The influence of colonialism on the continent cannot be over-emphasized. Then there were the fights for independence by the people of Africa and the second battle to abolish apartheid in Southern Africa. So Africa has been through a lot politically and must do better for themselves.
The introduction of military coups and governments in some post independent African countries brought another destabilizing impact in the politics of the continent. It seems that the impact of military rules in Nigeria, the most populous African nation somewhat impacted the brand of democracy being practiced in the country.
In a way, the Nigerian brand of democracy seems to be one big learning curve but examples from other African democracies shows that Nigeria might be lagging behind in the practice of democracy. There is lack of inclusivity and gender justice. The executive at all levels almost operates like emperors. Most of the governors hide under the federal government to abdicate their responsibilities while usurping the financial allocations to the local governments, thankfully the power seems to have been returned to the local governments through the recent Supreme Court verdict for their financial autonomy.
The legislative houses at local, state and federal levels often do not understand their duties and bend to the executive in the guise that they are either being loyal party members or advancing some legislative/executive loyalty. It is not hyperbolic to say that the legislature is the strongest arm of any democracy. We see the power of the House and Senate in the United States after which Nigerian democracy is fashioned. We can see how the parliamentary system in the United Kingdom works too. The people hold their parliamentarians very accountable.
As a developing nation, Nigeria needs the three arms to work in sync for a viable democracy. Failure of any to perform effectively impacts on the development of the country. It is therefore ironic that most Nigerian politicians who vie for seats in the various legislative houses do not always have a firm grip of what the functions of a legislator are to their constituencies.
In some ways, the some legislators tend to see themselves as having executive roles. They often campaign alongside those vying for executive positions and begin to make promises on general policy issues. This often stems from lack of a full knowledge of legislative functions. This fundamentally impacts on the output of legislators at all tiers of government. Mostof them win elections and begin to learn on the job literally.
Ironically, the Nigerian National Assembly members are allegedly some of the highest paid in the world but some of the least productive in ways that the people are even agitating for a part time federal legislature. The Nigerian citizens feel that the National Assembly (NASS) members often only care for their welfare and little for their constituents. Beyond the accusation is the fact that most of the legislators at that level do not seem to understand fully their roles in a democracy.
The three functions of the legislative arms are, law making, Oversight functions and lobbying for their constituencies. On a general level, each of the NASS members ought to operate as a national representative given their status as federal law makers but more often than not, they tend to pander to personal, regional and party sentiments which are all very divisive sentiments that breed rancor in the general house and turn out very unproductive.
Invariably then, the people feel that the NASS members only care for their welfare because their Oversight functions on the executive seem very ineffectual as most ministries, agencies and departments have a free reign. The tagging of the 9th assembly a ‘rubber stamp’ assembly sums up the perception of the NASS during the 8th years of former President mohammed Buhari. The 10th assembly is however being evaluated but their salaries and allowances have stirred a lot of controversies as most of the senators, the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the agency that fixes their allowances and salaries and the National assembly members have continued to give figures different from what some senators claim they get.
A few years ago, Senator Shehu Sani had claimed that as a senator, he earned about N13m monthly, an amount some of his colleagues denied then. There was outrage from the public given that at the time, civil servants were being paid between 18,000 and 30,000 naira minimum wage. This happened in the 8th senate.
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The controversies surrounding the real earnings of Nigerian politicians including the National Assembly members is a great source of mistrust between the people aand those in government. There is total lack of transparency in the payment structure that the people continually feel that those in leadership are not being transparent. The Revenue Mobilization allocation and Physical Commission has not heped matters as their figures are often at variance with what some senators claim they receive.
They issue then is, who pays the NASS members, how much do they all earn at both chambers? Which agency is responsible for allocations and payements?
Recently, the Chairman of RMAFC, Mohammed Shehu claimed that senators get a total of N1, 06m in salaries and allowances every month. On the contrary, Senator Abdurahmankawu, senator representing the Kano South senatorial district under the NNPP aprty told the Hausa service of the BBC in an interview that, “sincerely, our salary amounts to N21million monthly.
The Senate Spokesman, Yemi Adaramodu refuted senator Kawu’s claim that senators are paid N21m monthly saying the claim was far from the truth. He said that the, “…the funds referred to by Senator Kawu are neither his salary nor personal allowance”. This leaves the Nigerian people with more questions than answers. Former President Obasanjo had recently upbraided some lawmakers who visited him for fixing their allowances and salaries themselves and alleging that that wa immoral.
The controversy rages across the country because there seems to be no clarity to the issues and this has been on since 1999. The question people are asking seems to be, why should senators who have owned up to how much they receive as salaries and allowances be disbelieved? Who allocates money to the NASS members? Why are mere lawmakers some of who have no professional of personal pedigrees be earning so much in a country with 133m plus living in multi-dimensional poverty?
Why are there discordant tunes from the RMAFC, the senators and the Spokesman of the Senate? The senate which is the senior arm of the NASS seems to be mired in controversy over financial matters especially in this 10th assembly. The President of the Senate, Godwill Akpabio had at some point jokingly told the Senators that monies had been sent to their accounts for a festivity. When the people showed outrage, he recanted and said he meant email. On sevral occasions, there had been allegations of largess extended to the seantors like the Senate President getting so much for his constituency.
The lack of transparency in the allocations for the salaries and allowances of Nigeria’s legislative house in a country with so much poverty and where the minimum wage was just recently upgraded from 30,000 to 70,000 naira must worry the upper legislative chamber. It is a sign of lack of sensitivity to the issues that bother the people. With huge economic issues on the table of most Nigerians the NASS must be seen to be sensitive to the yearnings of the people for transparency and discipline.
It is an irony that the National Assembly trends most times for their welfare related issues than for their legislative duties. The leadership of the house must get its act together and present themselves as true reprsentatives of the people. In a country with 70,000naira minimum wage and where pensioners are often owed their pension payments, how does the NASS explain their alleged huge allowances and emoluments?
Refuting the claims of a sitting senator on paper or through press releases is in itself neither here nor there. Does it mean that the both Senators Shehu Sani and Abdulrahman Kawu are liars or incapable of calculating their allowances and salaries. The world is a global village now and it is not to the best image of either the NASS or the country that such controversies are perennially in the public domain. It is a sign that the country seems unserious.
The discrepancies in the amount with no efforts to present the true facts can only continue to fuel the trust deficit between the people and those in government. Nigeria is a leading country in Africa and should be in a position to like Ceasar’s wife be above reproach. It is very disturbing that 24 years after the return of civilian democracy, the saries and allowances of political office holders including the National Assembly members are shouded in mystery.
Many now believe that most Nigerian politicians see elections as do-or-die affair because it is the easiest routes to huge salaries where there is no way of evaluating the input of the earners. There can be no development without official discipline and total accountability. What can the NASS do to redeem itself?
- The dialogue continues…
