In the past few weeks, the issue of the passage of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) 2019 election budget has become a source of conflict between the executive and the legislature, while INEC races against time. As if that was not bad enough, Itse Sagay, a professor of law and Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), has come up with a dangerous thesis which aims at usurping the power of appropriation vested in the legislature. Citing the doctrine of necessity, the otherwise erudite legal mind claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari could fund the 2019 election without the National Assembly’s approval. In his words, “The overriding necessity and imperative of elections and democracy simply override the power of National Assembly. If the National Assembly refuses or fails to approve the budget for election, the doctrine of necessity will validate the provision of the funds without the National Assembly’s approval.”
This argument may seem logical to those who have vested interests, but it is actually hollow and untenable partly because the present circumstances cannot justify the invocation of the doctrine of necessity. Professor Sagay is urged to be circumspect in his utterances. Given his eminent professional background and experience, his statements carry weight in the polity. It is the height of disservice to the country, therefore, for anyone who wields such enormous influence to mislead the government and the citizenry. Ordinarily, a government that has professionals close to its corridors is expected to benefit from the assumed superior guidance provided by such quality human capital in the technical areas of governance. It is rather incongruous with expectation for the inputs of professionals in government to have the potential to yield suboptimal outputs. The PACAC chairman’s suggestion is clearly in this mould.
Sagay’s policy prescription on INEC’s 2019 budget is, to say the least, tantamount to utter violation of the principle of separation of powers which is the hallmark of democracy in a presidential system. Any breach of this principle is bound to be resisted by the arm of government that is at the receiving end. And that will be a recipe for confusion that may further overheat the polity. The power of appropriation per the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) resides in the National Assembly. The executive arm cannot, under any guise, overthrow the clear constitutional provisions without running foul of the extant law in a serious manner. In other words, Professor Sagay’s averment that the executive could provide funding for the 2019 elections without the endorsement of the National Assembly is out of place and antithetical to the tenets of democracy. Clearly, the legal icon failed to advert his mind to the fact that his suggestion translates into the abbreviation of due process in governance which in itself is a variant of corruption, if not a worse form of it. It is, therefore, ironical that a professed anti-corruption crusader like Sagay could be suggesting a patently illegal arrangement that could prepare a fertile ground for corruption to burgeon.
There is no doubt that the subsisting delay in the passage of the electoral body’s budget portends danger to democracy. And indeed, the danger is a veritable one given the volume of work that it still needs to accomplish in order deliver free, fair and credible elections barely six months from now. Nonetheless, it is the duty of the politicians to find a common ground to work harmoniously together irrespective of party affiliations. Clearly, one arm of government usurping the powers of another cannot resolve the challenge. On the contrary, it will compound the problem because of the level of mistrust and animosity among the dramatis personae. Instead of suggesting policy options that are sure to stoke the embers of disaffection between the executive and legislative branches, Sagay and his fellow professionals in politics will do the country a lot of good if they can fashion out a template that will improve executive-legislature relationship on a sustainable basis. That is the surest way to contain the perennial tinderbox within the polity and not by one branch of government looking for disingenuous ways to lord it over another branch in a democracy.
