THE 10th Session of the National Assembly will be inaugurated today, Tuesday, June 13, 2023. The inauguration by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will be preceded by the election of the President of the Senate and Deputy President of the Senate, as well as the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Deputy Speaker as supervised by the Clerk of the National Assembly.

The inauguration ceremony will be the first time Tinubu will be setting foot in the hallowed plenary of the Senate since 1993 when he was a Senator. It will confirm Tinubu’s “full ranking” as a democrat who has won elections and served at various levels of our democracy, such as the Senate, Governorate of Lagos and now President of the country.

We hope he comprehends the importance of today’s events and respects the philosophical traditions that hold the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary in their orbits within our presidential democracy. We say this against the troubling involvement of his name in the tussle for the leadership of the Red and Green Chambers of the National Assembly.

We however remind the President of the need for the members to be given a free hand to choose their leaders. While cooperation is imperative, the principle of separation of powers to ensure checks and balances, which strengthen governance in a presidential system, must be upheld. Otherwise, the National Assembly will be a toothless dog. Under such a situation, corruption will thrive and civil liberties will be threatened.

Let us take lessons from our own history, where independent National Assemblies prevented a constitutional amendment for tenure extension for former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Also, in 2018, the independent National Assembly led by Senator Bukola Saraki threw out Buhari’s Water Resources Bill which would have triggered  endless conflicts.

We expect the 10th National Assembly, no matter who emerge as its leaders, to be mindful that they are primarily the representatives of their various constituencies and the Nigerian people in government. They must promote the people’s welfare, uphold our constitutional rights, ensure the prudent spending of our scarce resources, hold the Executive to account and be ready to account for their own actions.

Let full governance begin.