Last week, the Senate approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to borrow six billion dollars. The speed was striking. There was no long national conversation. About four months ago, Tinubu’s request to raise N1.15tn from the domestic debt market to fund the 2025 budget deficit was approved by the National Assembly.
This has been the attitude of both chambers of the National Assembly since 2023, when Tinubu was sworn in as president. Whatever he sends to the National Assembly gets approved speedily. For example, in May 2024, Tinubu wanted the National Anthem changed. In less than one week, both the Senate and the House of Representatives approved it. On Thursday, May 23, 2024, the bill was presented for its second reading. By Tuesday, May 28, it was approved by both chambers of the National Assembly. On May 29, 2024, it was signed into law by Tinubu, and Nigeria reverted to the old National Anthem.
In February, despite all the protests, the National Assembly amended the Electoral Act, retaining the clause that results from polling units can be transmitted electronically or manually through hand-written result sheets. Tinubu quickly signed the amended bill into law. In 2023, that loophole was what gave rise to mutilated results being submitted, creating doubts over the entire electoral process.
Last month, Senate President Godswill Akpabio lined up to wave the president off to London. He joined other politicians to also line up in London to welcome him. On many occasions, Akpabio has acted in like manner to Tinubu, as if he were one of Tinubu’s aides instead of the leader of one of the three arms of government.
Akpabio does not seem to understand the importance of the position he occupies. He seems to owe allegiance to Tinubu rather than the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which gives him the authority to function. The Senate is not an extension of the presidency. It is not a cheering section. It is one of the three arms of government, designed to serve as a check on executive power.
The Senate, which is the upper chamber of the legislature, is the key symbol of democracy. A dictator can pretend to be a democrat and bear the title of president or prime minister. A despot can have kangaroo courts. But no autocrat allows an independent parliament to make laws. The first thing dictators do once they seize power is to suspend the constitution and the legislators.
The legislature is so important that it comes first among the three arms of government. Their order is (1) the legislature (which makes laws), (2) the executive (which implements the laws), and (3) the judiciary (which interprets the laws). That is why anytime the president of the country visits the National Assembly, he bows to the Senate President. When he does that, he is not bowing to the person of the Senate President but to the Constitution of the country, which the Senate President represents. He is saying: I am not above the Constitution (or the law). Democracy was purposely designed like this to ensure that power is not abused. Each arm has its role. Each arm is expected to stand on its own.
This does not mean the Senate must oppose everything the president proposes. It is expected that the executive and the legislative arms will regularly cooperate, especially when both sides are from the same political party.
But cooperation is different from submission or subservience.
When the Senate speedily approves the requests of the President on critical matters, it raises questions. That is not because speed is always wrong, but because important decisions deserve careful thought. Nigeria is already hamstrung by debts. Borrowing billions is not something that should be hurriedly done. It affects the future of the country and generations yet unborn. Such a request warrants a thorough debate and analysis from financial experts.
Also, when the head of the legislature is seen constantly in the shadow of the president, it sends a wrong message. It creates the impression that the Senate is comfortable playing a secondary role. That impression weakens the image of the legislature. The office of the Senate President carries weight. It represents not just one person, but the entire legislative arm.
But this is not how the National Assembly has always been. Many leaders of the National Assembly understood the importance of distance. This is not distance for the sake of pride, but distance for the sake of balance and independence.
As Senate President, Chuba Okadigbo was known for his strong personality and his willingness to assert the authority of the Senate. As the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’Abba had a tense relationship with Olusegun Obasanjo, who was president at the time. Obasanjo could not pocket the Senate or House of Representatives despite his military background. Ken Nnamani, as Senate President, ensured that Obasanjo did not change the Constitution to get a third term. Although these legislative leaders were all in the same People’s Democratic Party as Obasanjo, they showed their independence and gave dignity to the National Assembly. Despite the National Assembly not letting Obasanjo have his way on all things, Obasanjo still ended his tenure in 2007 as the president that has given Nigeria the best economy since the return of democracy in 1999. This proves that the independence of the legislature benefits the nation.
It is also important to remember the tenure of Bukola Saraki as Senate President during the first term of Muhammadu Buhari as president between 2015 and 2019. Although they were both members of the All Progressives Congress, Saraki ensured that the Senate was not a rubber stamp for the President.
These examples are not perfect, as there is no tenure that is flawless. But they show that the Senate and the House of Representatives can cooperate with the executive without losing their voice, personality, independence and democratic role.
Balance is critical in democracy because when the legislature becomes too aligned with the executive, the system begins to tilt. Decisions go through less scrutiny, and the oversight function of the legislature becomes weaker. The result is that accountability suffers.
The danger does not usually show immediately. At first, many will interpret it as efficiency or cooperation. Bills are passed quickly. Requests are approved without delay. The executive and the legislature are always in harmony. The government appears to be moving faster. Some may even praise this as excellent relationship management, especially by the President.
But over time, the cost becomes clear. Mistakes go unchecked. Bad decisions slip through. The desires and interests of the president are interpreted as those of the nation. The public loses a layer of protection. The nation gradually veers into “democratic despotism.”
The Senate is meant to slow things down when necessary. It is meant to ask hard questions and demand clarity. If it stops doing that, like the Akpabio-led Senate has, something important is lost.
There is also the deeper issue of institutions being stronger than individuals. A president will come and go; a Senate President will also come and go, but the institution must remain. When an office is shaped too much by the personality of its holder, it becomes weaker, but when it is guided by its purpose, it becomes stronger. The purpose of the Senate is to represent the people, to make laws, and to check the executive. It must not abdicate that role by turning itself into a department of the executive, perpetually singing “On your mandate we shall stand”.
It is not wrong for the Senate President to have a good relationship with the president and support policies that are in the national interest. But it is dangerous to display unquestioning support for the president. Democracy depends on each arm of government doing its job without fear or favour. When one arm becomes too dominant, the system suffers.
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