President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday night said the election of Senator Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila as the Senate president and speaker of the House of Representatives marked a departure from the “duplicity and perfidy of the immediate past” of the 8th Assembly in which Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara served as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively.
Both Lawan and Gbajabiamila were supported by the presidency and the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
In spite of that, Buhari, according to a statement by his media adviser Femi Adesina, does not want a legislature that will act as a mere appendage of the presidency.
“The Executive does not desire a rubber stamp Legislature,” Buhari said.
“While separation of powers is essential, collaboration among all Arms of Government should be the name of the game.”
Buhari also saluted all the national legislators and their political parties for their display of patriotism and non-partisanship before and during the election.
He commended the transparent and fair nature of the voting process, adjudging it as a plus for the democracy in the country.
President Buhari described the emergence of the new leaders of the legislative branch of government as “a new dawn, different from duplicity and perfidy of the immediate past”.
He, however, charged the winners to use their exalted positions for the higher interest of the country, her people, and for the growth of democracy.
”Stepping into the Next Level, the legislature has a big role to play for the goals of the administration to be achieved,” the president said.
“This is for the ultimate good of the nation.”
