Akpabio says National Assembly will maintain partnership with Tinubu administration

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has said the National Assembly will continue to work in partnership with President Bola Tinubu’s administration, despite its constitutional responsibility to scrutinise the executive. Akpabio spoke on Friday when he led a delegation of National Assembly members to visit Tinubu in Lagos during activities marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary. He said cooperation with the executive was intended to serve Nigerians’ interests.

“On the part of the National Assembly, we want to continue to remain worthy partners to the administration of President Bola Tinubu. And we believe that what we are doing is in the interest of all Nigerians,” he said. The source material notes that the constitutional relationship between the executive and legislature is based on separation of powers, checks and balances.

The National Assembly has powers under Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution to investigate the conduct of ministries, departments and agencies, including the administration of public funds. It also approves executive budget proposals and can use its investigative powers to expose corruption, inefficiency or waste. Critics, including opposition politicians, civil society groups and some lawmakers, have nevertheless accused the 10th Assembly of approving presidential requests with insufficient scrutiny.

Those criticisms have included the handling of borrowing proposals, budget changes, presidential nominations and other policy requests. In April, Atiku Abubakar criticised the approval of Tinubu’s request for $6 billion in foreign loans, arguing that the process had not involved adequate legislative examination. Akpabio has rejected the description of the legislature as a “rubber stamp”.

He said the Assembly’s cooperation had helped it review outdated laws and cited reforms to the tax system, including changes involving stamp duties. He said the National Assembly had passed four major tax laws as part of efforts to reform the country’s economic system, despite concerns expressed in some parts of Nigeria about their implications.