The All Progressives Congress (APC) may have just discovered that it is perhaps easier to win elections in Nigeria than to govern it. In spite of the fact that it won the Presidency and has a respectable majority in the Senate and House of Representatives, it is unfortunate that the party has been unable to get its act together with respect to the leadership of the two legislative houses.
The fighting in the National Assembly on June 25 was quite unbecoming of a party that rode into office on the crest of claims that it was more democratic, and had greater respect for due process and the rule of law, than the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
After its failed attempt to stop the election of Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and Speaker of House of Representatives, respectively, Nigerians would have expected the party to back down and respect the constitutional provisions and Standing Rules guiding the selection of leaders for the National Assembly. But it failed to do so, and went ahead to send a list of its selected candidates for the other leadership positions to the National Assembly. This led to the fracas which threw the party’s inability to resolve its internal wrangling in the face of Nigerians.
The result of this impasse is that the National Assembly is missing in action at this time that the nation needs all its institutions working at the optimum. This is a time that Nigerians need ingenuous ideas and prompt action from their leaders to address the nation’s current security, economic and other predicaments. Less than a week after its inauguration, the National Assembly has taken a vacation for almost a month.
Our view is that the problems of APC are largely self-inflicted. But, the party should not allow its internal problems to disrupt the nation’s business. Unfortunately, some of these troubles have been brought to the public domain. On the day the 8th National Assembly was scheduled for formal inauguration, the APC decided to hold a party meeting. The result was a leadership election in the Senate which a significant number of APC senators did not participate in.
It was bad enough that the APC leadership rejected the outcome of the NASS elections, but it was inconsiderate of it to bring partisanship into the NASS chambers by sending a list of its chosen officers for the remaining leadership positions to the Senate President and the Speaker of House of Representatives. The APC sent this list knowing that the Nigerian Constitution prescribes that the choice of such officers must be made within the chambers of both houses and by the members from among themselves. The insistence of some APC members that the list be read was abnormal, if not unconstitutional.
We do not discountenance the important role of the party in the election of its members in the National Assembly and the need to maintain party discipline. We also do not think that it is totally out of place for a political party to seek to promote the election of persons that it feels would best help to achieve its objectives, into certain offices in the federal legislature. However, efforts in this regard, can only be made outside the National Assembly, and not in its hallowed chambers as was the case in these instances.
We ordinarily expect that members of the National Assembly, being elected members of political parties, should owe allegiance to their parties and comport themselves in the manner of good party men and women, and in conformity with their party’s rules and regulations. But, the party’s efforts to make them do this cannot be enforced in the National Assembly. It is better done through suasion and enthronement of internal democracy in its decision-making processes to ensure that the positions arrived at enjoy the backing of the majority of its members.
While a party can do whatever it likes at its caucus meetings, the National Assembly is a national institution created by the Nigerian Constitution with specific functions for the well-being and good government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The APC, as the ruling party in the country, has a responsibility to ensure that this continues to be so.
It is, however, heartening that President Muhammadu Buhari has advised members of the party to close ranks and do what is best for the country, rather than pursuing personal interests.
Let APC begin to show leadership in the effort to build a stronger and more prosperous Nigeria. It should quickly put this crisis behind it and help the National Assembly members to forge ahead with the work for which they were elected. Nigeria cannot afford the unfruitful dissipation of energy on this needless crisis. The interest of the nation is supreme in this matter.
