The senator-elect for Osun East district of Osun state, Prince Francis Adenigba Fadahunsi, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and other leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress to allow the elected lawmakers in the National Assembly choose their principal officers unfettered.
Fadahunsi made the call in a chat with our correspondent in Osogbo, on Friday.
Fadahunsi said “the executive must allow the principle of separation of powers take root and operate in our democratic system. Any interference in the affairs of the legislative arm by the executive and or political party would negate the course of politics and democratic tenets.
“What is the business of the executive with the election of principal officers of the National Assembly? Why should the election process of the National Assembly create the tension it is creating within the APC leadership?” Fadahunsi asked rhetorically.
According to the senator-elect, “The way the party is going about it is exposing Sen. Lawan. The action of the National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole, is like that of a headmaster giving instructions to his pupils.
He stated that the party ought to be discreet with its lobby, not grandstanding about imposing an anointed candidate on the senators. The former Customs boss said Buhari’s meddling in the choice of the lawmakers was only exposing Sen. Lawan to the danger of being viewed and labelled as a stooge of the executive.
He however advised the executive to endeavour to deploy its energy and zeal to revamping and regenerating the dwindled economic fortunes of the country rather than dissipating energy, time and resources on the issue of principal officers of the National Assembly.
He added that a “majority of the elected senators are matured people that had been trusted with leadership positions in the past. Some had been governors of their various states before contesting and winning the Senate seat. Therefore, they know who have the best of what it takes to lead the red chamber, as well as the nation, successfully. And they are the representatives of their people, as they are not representing parties but constituents.
“Once a senator is elected, he or she becomes a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not APC/PDP Senator. Therefore, the executive arm and the APC leadership should, for the sake of our national interest, outgrow various primordial and divisive interests in the legislative arm of Government, as it happens in other climes. “
He therefore charged the 9th Senate to strive hard to shun any interference and focus on acting as a “dogged watchdog”.
“I urge my colleagues in the National Assembly to strive hard and be committed to bills that can improve the economy and fight poverty, which is the biggest problem confronting the country. This is because posterity and history will judge every man for their actions and inactions in improving the lives of the citizenry,” he said.