WE are not surprised at the rumours of an “impeachment” plot against the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio. Some have expressed worry that it is coming too early in the life of the President Bola Tinubu regime.

Let such people be reminded that the first Speaker of the House of Representatives since 1999, Hon. Salisu Buhari, was forced to resign on July 23, 1999, less than two months after he was inaugurated. It is never too early or late to correct a mistake once it is identified.

Akpabio does not appear bothered in the least over the wide perception of him as a “rubber-stamp” President of the Senate. He and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, were specially hand-picked by President Tinubu for their positions. Even from Muhammadu Buhari’s time as president, Tinubu as the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has always stood for a National Assembly that would be controlled by the party and the president.

Usually, when the Executive branch pockets the Legislature, that branch of government which symbolises the people, turns against the people. Akpabio’s “enjoyment” outlook, which the Executive seems eager to nurture ahead of the people’s welfare after the petrol subsidy full implementation, has not bolstered the people’s confidence in the 10th National Assembly.

We call on Akpabio to shape up to the job. We want a vibrant National Assembly that meets the intendments of the Constitution and the expectations of Nigerians. Nigeria practises a Presidential system which commands Separation of Powers among the three Arms of government – the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. The system demands that each Arm exerts checks and balances on the others to promote people-oriented, accountable and genuinely democratic governance.

The National Assembly should assert its independence. That is the only way it can credibly carry out oversight functions on the other Arms to mitigate corruption and Executive excesses which tend to tamper with the people’s civil liberties.

A situation where the leadership of the National Assembly voluntarily opts to be in the pocket of the Executive is a betrayal of trust. It is a recipe for untrammelled corruption, dictatorship and state capture by the Executive Branch. If the National Assembly headed by Senator Bukola Saraki had betrayed its independence to the Buhari administration, some of its draconian and unpatriotic legislative proposals would have been part of our laws to the detriment of our nation.

Though we expect a measure of cooperation among all the branches of government for smooth, good governance, every branch must follow the Constitution. Akpabio and Abbas must provide leadership that will give Nigerians a vibrant National Assembly.