On a courtesy visit to Vanguard last week, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters, explained to Vanguard editors why there is peace between the executive and the legislature, pointing out that the National Assembly has not been reduced to a rubber stamp. Excerpts:
What has been happening in the last one year since you assumed duties as adviser on national assembly matters?
In a democratic setting, you don‘t expect the government to have hundred percent favourable support of the people. My colleagues here are former members of the national assembly and all of us are former members of the National Assembly. All our political lives, we have been in the national assembly. When I decided to take a break for some years to plan and arrange my life, it was at that point that I was invited to take this appointment, with a view to stabilising this democracy; and also to take part in ensuring the sustenance of democracy. I accepted the job, knowing how turbulent the dispensation in our time was. Why I asked my colleagues to come was because we wanted to bridge the information gap between the executive and the legislature and to ensure constant briefing between the legislators and members in the executive arm, as well as ensuring that every arm of government is an active player, an active participant, towards a healthy democratic dispensation.
I think most of us have waited so long for this democracy. Most of us have contested in many elections, most of us have had so much military intervention that it has affected our political and individual growth. And we got to the assembly and we insisted on separation of powers, which we fought for. Today, I do not regret it because at least, we were able to lay a solid foundation.
But again, if we have had this kind of relationship between the executive and the legislature in place, relationship would have been normalised. We have been able to normalise the situation today. We have established so much cordiality between the two parties that the national assembly is being erroneously mistaken for a rubber stamp national assembly.
That is not correct.
We know the thinking of a legislator. More importantly, requirement of a legislator is that he wants an environment which would allow him to contribute maximally to the development of his nation, he wants to be allowed to take part in whatever decision is to be taken. In short, he wants to be allowed to effectively complement the efforts of the executive or vice versa. And having that understanding, we are able to ensure a lot of dialogue. In a nutshell, what this office does now is to try to correct whatever mistake that had happened in the past. The advantage we have today is that we enjoy the trust and confidence of our colleagues in the national assembly. At the same time, we have tried to ensure that the president accommodates members of the legislature and this relates to very extensive dialogue and consultations. There is no bill that is not subjected to numerous consultations before it is legislated upon.
But if you were to be honest with yourself, if you had been part of this national assembly, would you have been happy to be part of the mess which some people see where you say you see mutual understanding.
Simply enough, in our own time, the national assembly had as majority, the PDP, but for some strange reasons, the party was unable to use its numerical strength to its advantage. Rather, the PDP legislators were working with the opposition. I belong to the opposition party, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, and I think I was the only ANPP legislator that did not work under that influence. I did not understand why a party that has the majority cannot properly use its numerical strength to get things done its own way.
Senator Chuba Okadigbo used the 32 out of 37 senators that were against the government and I joined them. They eventually reconciled.
Anyim too abandoned his PDP, I think so and now also used AD and APP. But what we have now is a healthy majority in the national assembly and we are using that numerical strength for the people. Nigerians would have to understand the need for legislators of the ruling party to cooperate with the executive of the same party in government, not blindly, not secretly, not out of sentiment but as the way that it should be in this country. We are not saying that it should be perfect all the way through, we are still working, but I can say here with all sense of modesty that in the one year that we‘ve worked there, there‘s been a positive change in the relationship: More understanding, a lot of communication of ideas going on all the time. So we solicit and also appeal to you, to support us as much as you can in all the reform programmes.
I believe that with time, the president will be known for what he initiated. No human being is perfect. I believe that maybe with time, before he leaves, Nigerians will start calling him “my president”. I think I went somewhere and I met a Ghanaian who called their president ‘my president’. And I believe that we`ll get there one day.
Let’s just take the issue of the loan granted to Ghana and Sao Tome and Principe. Was that the due process?
Let me correct something here. On the issue of the loan, I would tell you this: Whatever decisions that require the clarification of the legislators, we must make a request. Nothing would hardly go out without the national assembly knowing. Nigerians used to enjoy that entertainment of reading about a fight between members of the executive and the legislators. Today, it‘s unfortunate that what is on ground is being erroneously misrepresented as something else. We do not encourage the executive to trample on the legislature because that would amount to wasting of time in the sense that if that happens or is suspected, then there will be that antagonism. I tell you here honestly that at the end of my few years as a senator, I went back with a lot of guilt on my mind. I think I spent too much time fighting and it‘s not always easy.
A group of us (senators) spent thirteen months without going near the villa because we were trying to make a point; but again, it‘s good for us to establish that foundation, which is what we have on ground today, but we cannot continue that way, to always fight as if that is what the people voted their representatives to do for them. So, we‘ve managed enough. It is the most challenging aspect of my political life.
But what we have succeeded in doing is that, we do not let it come out to the open for the entertainment of Nigerians. If it is important for Nigerians to know, we don‘t quarrel, let them know, but we‘ll not let Nigerians go to court to ask people like Shagari to come and settle quarrels between the executive and the legislature.
We want to sustain this democracy; we‘re not tired of democracy yet, when you go in younger, you‘re militant, you‘ll like to do the job. Nigerians mostly appreciate what is going on now. And far from it, I would not work with a president that will want to turn my colleagues to mere rubber stamps. We have to make sure that this democracy is sustained, we have to correct so many things, we have to hurry up our economy, we have to make some amendments so that, most of these things can be rightly put in place. We are working on most of these things, there are so many things to do than for us to start wasting time on quarrels.
We want to ask whether this relationship between the executive and the legislature can be sustained, especially against the backdrop of a president who presents himself as an all-knowing person?
This relationship is in the best interest of the country and it is something to sustain because there are so many things going on in the house. The only thing we try to do is to avoid crisis, the only thing we try to do is to intervene and the only thing we‘ve achieved so far is that our colleagues trust us that we will not allow anyone to trample on them. Once we are with our colleagues, we don‘t play games. People are able to settle and do what they‘re elected to go and do. We do not allow anything that will not sustain democracy, anything that will hinder the progress of the nation and the people. I don‘t know why Nigerians are quarreling with the fact that, there is no fighting going on there. But I believe that as for me, most Nigerians appreciate what is going on. Maybe that‘s why I‘m being celebrated by everyone today. It has been the most challenging period of my political life. We have people who can look up to the president and tell him “You are out of order”. People have contested and won elections while some have decided to take a break out of politics.
I am a very busy woman, I have my charity work, I don’t have anything to worry about. But whatever I can do to sustain this democracy that I believe we have been fighting for, for so many years, I will do it. Fighting for this country in my opinion is the best thing ever, for this country. There’s no week that we do not have consultations up till 3 a.m. There’s no week that Mr President does not consult with me on various issues. There is no month that we do not have interactive dinners where Mr President interacts with these people under a very informal atmosphere. And each of these dinners affords Mr President the opportunity to be close to the people. During our own time in the national assembly, senators went to Calabar and spent so much money on a retreat, and by the time we left the retreat, senators were already plotting again. You should do what is expected of you. I know the constitution very well and of course, my motions were based on troubles which was well received.
When you send a bill to the national assembly, it passes through the first hurdle and the second and some of us are around watching the action of people. What we do is to observe whether these bills will pass or not and how the people are receiving them. And if the public is violently against the bill, we would have noticed and we would have had to withdraw it.
For the first time the Special Adviser appears to be a relevant player....
(Cuts in) Oh yes.
Let’s be very honest with you, with the attitude of the president, people would continue to be suspicious of the relationship between the executive and the legislature because the way the president carries himself regarding what he wants from the national assembly and his appreciation of the legislators suggest that he has them in his pocket and for as long as he does that, nobody would appreciate the cordiality which you are talking about.
Mr President has a way of agreeing to those kind of procedures which can be corrected with time, but it is not right; and I tell you the reason. I‘m sure that you all know that I‘m a very honest person and during my time in the senate, if we had had what is in place today, we probably would have done better. I think the only day I saw a delegation of those who were supposed to be liaison officers or whatever they were, when they came to my house to meet me, was once or so and we never had the type of interaction we are having now. Information was not made available then and things would have been better if it were today, if you would agree with me.
I cannot begin to be political with you people and expect to put all that behind you. I was telling them that those arguments then were out of anger and as politicians, we have become very strong today. We have to be very, very strong. In the past, we used to walk out, but now, we open the door and stand by it. Nobody is trying to hide the truth. In our own time, there was nobody to reconcile us together, but we are able to come together and settle our differences amicably without us having to disrupt the house now. But today, we are talking about it, we are able to settle easily. The good thing is that, we are recognised, you know that at a particular point in time, we were not recognised; but today, we have been able to make people recognise us. Let me just add here, although, we can use our numerical strength, we also invite the leadership of the opposition parties to dialogue The party leadership will then go to the gallery, we do that often. In the course of my briefing, I‘ve made that obvious that I do not see myself as a good employee, I‘ve never worked for anybody in my life; I‘ve been on my own and I‘m doing this job as a politician who is interested in sustaining democracy in the country.
It will be immodest for me to say that the assignment was taken beyond boundary, but I believe in my country and that‘s the reason why I decided to take this job. I‘m just doing what I believe in doing for Nigeria, likewise my colleagues. Politicians are respectful people. They‘re like footballers, we are tired of struggling, my generation in particular is tired of struggling. As a young girl, I grew up during the Biafran war; all those things have been enough problems and all I want to do is to succeed.
On Bakassi?
Well, there were some reports in the media and this created some form of panic in the area. But I can tell you that President Obasanjo and his Camerounian counterpart, Paul Biya, are in consultations and are talking. We believe that this matter would be resolved amicably.
This article is being re-published because of a technical problem which distorted the essence of the first publication on Monday. Any embarrassment caused is regretted.
