By Tekena Amakiri
The Senior Special Assistant to the Cross River State Governor on Legislative/Chieftaincy Affairs, a former lawmaker in the Cross River State House of Assembly and Associate Professor Dr. Jake Otu Enyia has taken a swipe at those calling for the head of the Senate President Godswill Akpabio over his cordial relationship with the Executive.
Contrary to their perception of Akpabio being an appendage of the President Bola Tinubu led Executive, Enyia pointed out that if only they are made to understand the workings of governance in a democratic space there would be little or no room to doubt the competence and capacity of the current Senate President.
According to the astute politician and academia, in a democratic system, though the Separation of Power among the three arms of government is clearly spelt in the Constitution, the document also upholds the fusion of these powers at some level among these institutions to safeguard
against the breakdown of day to day governance.
” Principally in a democratic government there are three arms of government, the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. By the provisions of the Constitution there is Separation of Power among them. This relationship however is not a very tight separation otherwise there will be no democracy. There must be a fusion of these relationships and they must co – exist because the Legislature cannot start a process and end it alone. It can only end when the head of the Executive gives the accent. The final process of the Legislature is lawmaking and their laws can never be complete except it gets the accent of the President. The head of the Executive cannot effectively conclude an executive action without recourse to the Legislature. There must be a fusion of powers among them, so for one to see the now Senate President as a puppet or operating under the wimp and caprice of The President is wrong. Even in the State Assemblies people look at whatever the Speaker does as what the governor wants and the Speaker cannot do anything except the governor says this or that, the Speaker cannot fight the governor because he is in his pocket and so on.It is not so. The position of these persons, the Speaker in the House of Assembly or House of Representatives or the Senate President are so critical that for them to succeed, you must put side by side the views of your members as well as the views of the Executive. You must be cautious of what your colleagues want and what the President wants. There must be a perfect marriage otherwise you will not succeed “
The former State lawmaker went on to inform that the many tasks Akpabio faces daily in this harmonious balance between the Senate and the Executive is herculean and needs a leader that has his wits about him at all times.
” What the Senate President does is to obtain a balance because here, your colleagues and fellow members are saying you are not acting in their own interest due to the fact that you are relating with Mr President and abandoning them. They will take up an action against you and impeach you. If you hold fast to your members to the detriment of the President who is the head of the Executive that gives the nod to your actions, there will be conflict. So you must play a role that carries both parties along harmoniously “.
On whether Akpabio so far has been able to achieve these so far in his own assessment, Dr Enyia gave the Senate President a pass mark noting that the office affords him no other option but to succeed.
“If you want to succeed in the Legislature as the head you don’t have any other option. You have to make sure that the office you are occupying plays the role as desired, plays the role of stabilizing the nation. When you are with the President and abandon your colleagues it creates conflicts. When you are with your colleagues and abandon the president you create conflicts. You must marry them in such a way that you go with both. In this the Senate President has done well by ensuring he takes up the wishes of his colleagues and also at the same time, the principal goal of the nation, what the Executive wants. You must always ensure that harmony because immediately you slip on one side there is bound to be conflict. You have to accept both and take them along together. So in acting this way Akpabio has not done anything against the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria “
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