In democracies, Nigeria’s inclusive, the legislative arm ought to serve as a vital check on executive power, ensuring transparency, accountability, and the protection of public interests. However, in Nigeria’s Senate under the leadership of Senator Godswill Akpabio, the reverse appears to be the case, seeing as this essential function is increasingly brought under severe threat. The recent suspensions and removals of key senators have sparked concerns about the Senate becoming a burial ground for dissenting voices.
Akpabio’s rash of opinion muscling started with the suspension of senator Abdul Ningi in what commentators have dismissed as alarming. Senator Abdul Ningi, known for his outspoken nature and commitment to transparency, was suspended for revealing disturbing facts about the unprecedented padding of the Nigerian 2024 budget. As it turned out, the revelations was not mere conjecture; independent investigations have corroborated his claims, highlighting significant irregularities and dubious appropriations within the budget – instances of criminal duplications of fictitious contracts running into billions.
By moving to summarily suspend Senator Ningi, Akpabio it will appear, used the psychology of scape-gotism to send a chilling message to other senators: dissent and transparency are not tolerated in Akpabio’s Senate. The silencing of Ningi, thus raised critical questions – indeed doubts – about the Senate’s role in scrutinising the executive and safeguarding public funds. If senators cannot speak out against corruption and mismanagement without facing retribution, the integrity of the legislative process is severely compromised.
But as we know, there are some old dogs who just never heed simple instructions. Senator Ali Ndume is one of such, known never to back down. So it was that in a troubling turn of events, the Senator representing the good people of Southern Borno was summarily removed from his position as Senate Whip. Ndume’s removal came after he shared with Nigerians the disturbing reality of serious gatekeeping within the presidency. According to Ndume, even ranking senators are being prevented from accessing the president, wondering if the president is not being insulated from the daily reality of Nigerians.
Perhaps Ndume thought too much of his position in the senate as a Chief Whip, an office that should ordinarily protect him from the rapid stick. Not in Akpabio’s senate, for as we have seen, the party connived through its national president whose cap is still threading several corruption allegation to oust Ndume for what Abdullahi Ganduje referred to as serious misconduct.
Without over-flogging the issue, Ndume’s removal underscores a pattern of suppressing dissenting voices within the Senate. His willingness to speak out about the gatekeeping issue reflects his long known commitment to ensuring that the president remains accessible and accountable to Nigerians – his employers. However, in Akpabio’s Senate, such commitment is met with swift punishment. It is still left to be seen if further punishment will be preferred against the ranking senator who has refused to back down going by his robust response to his ouster.
Akpabio’s senate has become a clearing house of every executive decision. This is because, the Senate under Akpabio has chosen to focus on the express passage of _bills of urgent national importance_ as the national anthem bills and numerous supplementary budgets sent by the president without any serious form of scrutiny. This legislative agenda appears to prioritise rubber-stamping executive proposals over meaningful scrutiny and debate.
Of particular concern, is the swift passage of supplementary budgets, raising doubts about fiscal responsibility and the effective use of public funds. These budgets, often presented with little notice and limited debate, are known to lead to unchecked spending and potential misuse of resources. By prioritising these bills, Akpabio’s Senate is not even pretending to be providing legislative oversight, it is simply abdicating its responsibility of ensuring prudent financial management and accountability and any senator who stands against this, it would seem, very lucrative endeavour risks an axe.
It therefore did not come as too much of a surprise when recently, the president decided to expand its presidential fleet with the acquisition of a new jet. This decision to procure a new private jet for the presidential fleet without appropriation exemplifies the growing trend of executive overreach. This move, made without the necessary legislative approval, highlights the president’s confidence in the avowed silence and inertia of Akpabio’s Senate. This worrying lack of pushback from the Senate, even if for the show of it, suggests a worrying but not a surprising erosion of legislative oversight and a shift towards executive rascality.
Yet, it’s still early days in Akpabio’s leadership and he’s already set a concerning precedent one that makes Ahmed Lawan come off as a wonderful senate president. This dynamic not only undermines the principles of democracy but also jeopardises the public’s trust in the legislative process.
At this rate, comparison between Akpabio’s Senate and that of his predecessor, Ahmed Lawan, are inevitable. Lawan’s tenure was often criticised for its perceived rubber-stamp approach to executive proposals. However, Akpabio seems determined to surpass even Lawan’s record of docility and this is no mean fit. Whereas the swift and punitive actions against dissenting senators, coupled with the prioritisation of executive-friendly legislation by Akpabio’s senate appears to be a norm, suggesting a Senate leadership serving at the whims of the executive; Lawan can brag about never succumbing to the executive pressure of relieving senators of their constitutionally secured mandate.
The Nigerian state is at risk of becoming a civilian martial rule if the legislature, especially the senate does not enter into a profound epiphany moment very soon. Nigerians are groaning under the heavyweight of executive policies and even though liberals have argued that some or even all the policies have some merits, it would help for Nigerians to see that the senate is even pretending to be policing the superhuman powers that this president seems to be wielding since declaring it his turn and sweeping through the polls. In the end, Akpabio and his class of 2023 would be judged not on the amount of genuflection they heap on the president, but in the substance of their full exercise of the doctrine of separation of power.
