Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has pushed back against critics who label the 10th National Assembly (NASS) a “rubber stamp,” asserting that such critics “don’t understand ‘why we’re here.’”
Akpabio made these remarks on Thursday, June 12, during a joint session of both NASS chambers, attended by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to commemorate Nigeria’s 26 years of democracy.
In his speech, the Senate President highlighted the large number of petitions received by the parliament as evidence of the public’s continued trust in the institution.
“Beyond bills, the National Assembly has received over a hundred petitions from Nigerian citizens and civil societies,” Akpabio stated.
“This is a testimony to the public trust in the institution. Of these, 28 petitions have been fully adopted, providing redress, transparency, and institutional accountability.”
Addressing the relationship between the executive and legislative branches, Akpabio emphasized that national prosperity hinges on both arms working collaboratively with a shared vision, rather than as adversaries.
“History teaches us that nations make the greatest progress when the executive arm that governs us has vision and the legislature guides with vision. But they prosper most when both work hand in hand, not as rivals, but as co-stewards of the national trust,” he explained, drawing parallels with developmental successes in countries like the United States, Rwanda, Ghana, and South Africa, where executive-legislative cooperation was key.
The Senate President concluded by asserting that the strong relationship between the National Assembly and the Executive serves the people’s best interests.
He called for a renewed commitment to foster collaboration between government arms while disregarding critics.
“The lesson is very clear: where governance is in partnership, progress follows. But where governance is a contest, people suffer. Therefore, as we commemorate 26 years of uninterrupted democratic governance, we must renew our national commitment to foster collaboration between different arms of government and ignore the critics who decide to term the parliament a ‘rubber stamp.’ Because they don’t understand why we are here,” Akpabio reiterated.
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