BY BEN AGANDE, Henry Umoru, Inalegwu Shaibu & VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG
ABUJA—Activities marking this year’s Democracy Day celebration kicked off on a combative note yesterday as President Goodluck Jonathan tackled the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal over which arm of government should be blamed for the failure of government policies.

This came as Senate President, David Mark pledged that the National Assembly on its part will live up to its billings by enacting laws for good governance.

NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM—From left: Former Vice President Alex Ekwueme; ex-President Shehu Shagari; Chairman of the occasion, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; President Goodluck Jonathan, and Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, at a National Symposium marking the 2012 Democracy Day Celebration, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: NAN.

Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in his own assessment of our journey so far argued that Nigeria is not moving forward just as Trade Union Congress of Nigeria and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN said democracy as it is today is not what Nigerians fought for.

The exchanges between President Jonathan and Speaker Tambuwal took place yesterday at the Banquet hall of the Presidential Villa where a symposium was held as part of activities to mark 2012 Democracy Day celebration.

While the Speaker accused the President of failing to sign bills passed by the National Assembly into law to further the advancement of policy implementation, the President in a direct response accused the National Assembly of working at cross purposes with the executive in the over dramatization of the separation of power principles.

Hon. Tambuwal who spoke on  “Our Democracy: Progress and Challenges,” expressed the worry of the parliament at the failure of the executive to sign bills passed by the National Assembly.

He noted that “in as much as it is the constitutional duty of the legislature to pass laws, it is equally the constitutional responsibility of Mr. President to assent to same. It is however disturbing to note that the Executive has shied away from this responsibility by not assenting to bills passed by the National Assembly. This makes the legislative process cumbersome because some of these bills have to be re-introduced DE NOVO. This is not a healthy situation for the Executive-Legislature relationship neither does it portray our democracy in good light amongst the comity of nations” he noted.

But the President who also spoke on the occasion accused the National Assembly especially those of them in the same party as the ruling party of working at cross purposes with the executive in the misguided notion of separation of power.

According to President Jonathan, while the Judiciary as an arm of government can afford to be separate entity because they are not members of a political party, the executive and the legislative arm of government must work in tandem to achieve the manifesto of their party under which platform they were elected into office.

Jonathan on Separation of Powers

“If it is the policy of PDP to carry out a programme in agriculture, it is the executive that would come up with the programme. My thinking is that the legislators who are members of PDP are supposed to support that programme because we are there, because we contested election on the platform of a particular political party, the PDP. But in Nigeria sometimes, you see the anomalies. Sometimes, people play into separation.

“If you send your budget to NASS and they tear it to pieces and package what they like for you, you start planning and managing the economy. We have challenges every year. Budgets are not created from the moon. It is based on projections, commitments and funding and what you see sometimes could be disturbing. This has been a major conflict between NASS and the Executive. The Speaker mentioned it that is why I am raising it.”

On the specific allegation by the Speaker that the executive has failed to assent to bills passed by the Legislature, the President said “every political party has a manifesto and those who contest elections to hold any office whether in the executive arm of government as President, Vice President, Governor or those who contest election to be in the legislative arm of government either as a legislator or councillor, are supposed to campaign based on the party manifesto and that is why individual governors don’t have their separate manifestos.

“Let me talk about separation of powers which in some cases sounds even absurd. How separate are these powers? Yes, you can separate the judiciary to some reasonable level but can you really separate the parliament from the executive and have a stable government? That is one of the greatest challenges we have and especially in Nigeria.

“I believe if the parliamentarians and those in the executive maintain that theoretical separation of powers as if there is a wall separating the executive from the legislature, then this country will continue to have problems If we begin to see this clear division, we are exposing the National Assembly for people who are anti-government to use. It is not good to always celebrate the separation, when we begin to celebrate the separation, those outside government would use National Assembly against the Executive,” he declared.

On campaign for 2015 elections, the President warned that elected officials should be allowed to do their job since they are just one year into their tenure of four years, pointing out that  “We are just talking about one year of government for a government of four years. Why should we begin to talk about 2015. Let us keep away from whether someone is going to contest or not. Let us focus on governance. It is not yet time for anybody to declare or not to declare interest” he said.

Democracy should be a way of life  – Mark

In his own contribution Senate President David Mark said that all Nigerians must work towards ensuring that democratic institutions were nurtured and sustained

In a democracy message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, Senate President also urged Nigerians to participate actively in the democratic process as well as collaborate with government to strengthen the institutions in order to reach the Eldorado.

According to him, it was by deliberate decision and design that Nigeria chose democracy as the best form of government suited for our pluralistic society, adding that democracy should not be seen or perceived as those in government versus those outside government, saying “we must all keep faith”.

Senator Mark who stressed that democracy is participatory and representative enough to cater for all interests where no one or group would be marginalized or oppressed, said, “Whether in or outside government, everybody is a stakeholder in the democratic process. Both the ruling party and opposition parties are stakeholders in the democratic arrangement. Everyone is important and every role is relevant.

Nigeria must chart a new course —Tinubu

Meanwhile, ACN leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, argued that Nigeria needs to chart a new course in order to move forward in solving her problems. According to him, “Nigeria is not moving forward. We are stuck in improving power generation. Millions of Nigerians are slipping into poverty. “ We must begin to chart a new course for Nigeria now. We must stop this reversal and rally all progressives to the national cause of liberating Nigeria”.

Tinubu who also spoke on the opposition’s plan to capture power and turn Nigeria in the direction of growth and development decried the lack of capacity in governance. He argued that “without capacity you will end up with a visionless and directionless government. Right now we are headed in the wrong direction and our current leadership must apply itself to the task of nation building. Thirteen years of PDP leadership have seen us making little progress. We have had years of waste and little growth. How can Nigeria still be fluctuating between 1,200MG and 4,000 megawatts. We have witnessed deficiency in leadership, intimidation and abuse of rule of law and transparent corruption”.

Tinubu maintained that “Nigeria is worth dying for” and urged all Nigerians not to give up on Nigeria.

TUC, PENGASSAN thumb down for democracy

Also, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, yesterday said Nigeria’s democracy had become an alibi for looting and wiping the treasury clean as Nigerians mark the nation’s return to civil rule after long years of military rule today.

TUC, the umbrella body for senior staff associations in the country in a statement to commemorate the country’s democracy, lamented that what was going on in the Nigeria in the name of democracy was not the democracy Nigerians fought and died for.

This came as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, said Nigerians were no longer interested in promises by political leaders, but performance and improvement in their living conditions.

For PENGASSAN in a statement to mark the 13th anniversary of Nigeria’s return to civil democratic rule, said Nigerians were longer interested in promises by political office holders, but improvement in their living conditions.

In a statement by its President, Comrade Babatunde Ogun, said “While democracy has made millionaires of our politicians, ordinary Nigerians and workers have been impoverished. Poverty has continued to ravage the land, from the latest NBS statistics about 70% of Nigerians live in poverty. Unemployment even by official figures is about 25% thus providing a ready army for criminals and criminal activity. Inflation is soaring at double digits. Insecurity stalks the land. Educational, health and physical infrastructure have collapsed. In one word, Nigeria is in crisis.”

“So today, PENGASSAN urges all political office holders to do away with the usual platitudes with which they mark occasions like this and get down to the serious business of governance at all levels. Nigerians are no longer interested in promises of a better life in an indeterminate future. What we want to see is good governance.  The challenges facing us as a nation are not insurmountable as have been aptly demonstrated by countries with whom we were in the same development bracket at independence.

All we require is a purposeful government with the interest of ordinary Nigerians at heart and not a clannish or cabalistic interest.  We remind Nigerians that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. We must therefore continue to hold the feet of government officials to the fire in order to make them accountable to us and make them work for us, Nigerians.” .