The legislature in a democracy simply refers to that arm of government which primary responsibility is to make laws to regulate its affairs and that of other arms of government like the executive and the judiciary. The laws so made are targeted towards the smooth expression of the will of the state and her people. The origin of the legislature could be traced to the earliest periods of the movement from state of nature to civil society.
It is no gain emphasising the point that conventional nation states come into existence only after an expression of the will of the people by the legislature in whatever form called. In this regards, therefore, state or sovereignty belongs to the Nigerian people and can only be convocated by a law of the legislature. In the Nigerian context, it’s the 1999 Constitution among others. It is by this reason alone that the constitution in legal parlance referred to as the supreme law of the land. (the grand norm)
Therefore, it may not be completely out of place to assert that for the executive and judiciary arms of government to be convocated, there must be in place a legislature of the people representatives that would breathe life into these arms. By reference, therefore, in any democratic setting or civil society the legislature could be said to be the oldest arm of government. Thus, in the Nigerian context, the then military government of Gen. Abdulsami after much inconsistencies, brickbats and pretended interest by previous heads of state, finally yielded to pressure and in May 29, 1999, abdicate power to a democratically elected government. As it is usual with military governments, it unilaterally arrogated to itself the people’s legislative mandate and went ahead to enact the 1999 Constitution. The preamble to the 1999 constitution is clear evidence of this unilateralism, where it stated thus: “WE THE PEOPLE OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA: Having firmly and solemnly resolved….” It is important to point out that in spite of this claim, the 1999 Constitution was promulgated for the people without the mandate of the people.
Without equivocation therefore, if the constitution is the first law of 1999 Nigerian enacted through a military legislative action and therefore the ground norm setting forth the normative values, principles of governance, methods and offices of government, it goes without stress that as the oldest arm of government, the legislature has an inherently imposed responsibility to supervise other arms of government it set up in the constitution vide its oversight functions. For instance, part 11 of the 1999 constitution as amended in defining powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, first listed the powers of the National Assembly and provides in section 4 (1)-(3) the wide law making powers of the legislature “for peace, order and good government of the Federation or any part thereof.”
Perhaps as a device to guarantee and ensure continuity of elected representatives in the legislature and as the fulcrum of democratic ethos, whilst the constitution imposed limits to the number of times one could be elected president of Nigeria in section 137(b) and governor in section 182 (b) the membership of the legislature is at left large.
Giving the words used in the constitution their ordinary meaning, the fact that no time line is attached to elected members term connotes a democratic situation where an elected senator/House member will remain electable for as many times as his performance, and good health permit. This is not so for the president and the state governor. They have a term of eight year certain.
Perhaps, what would have been an imagined limitation to an elected senator’s term would have been inferred in Chapter 11 section 14 (3) of the 1999 constitution. This part of the Nigerian constitution is however non-justiciable and carries with it only a moral plea devoid of legal mandatoriness. This chapter of the constitution deals with the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy.
There is therefore, for now, no provision in the constitution expressly imposing term limit as to the number of times one can be elected a senator.
For example, whilst a judicial officer in spite of his good health, and intact knowledge of the law, is forced to bow out after attaining the mandatory age, the same cannot be said of an elected senator.
These limitations against the president and state governors are the concomitant characteristics evident of the American presidential system of government which Nigeria copied for herself. It is important to note that as dynamic and stable as the American democracy is observed, it still strictly adheres to these features of her chosen democratic system and constitution. Whilst in the American context, a senator once elected remains electable in subsequent elections for as many years as possible, the negative aspect of the Nigerian system is that an effective senator may be disallowed to continue even where the electorate wants him back. The Nigerian situation has degenerated to a sorry situation whereby even a ranking and performing senator with enormous experience could be replaced by his state governor or minister not for any good reason. Whether a representative is representing the people well or not is secondary consideration in so far as the leadership in the state has ambition to run for the senate.
It must be pointed out here that one is not submitting that an ineffective representative should not be replaced by his/her political party or constituents. What is advocated here is that the replacement of an outstanding legislator should not be made for the fun of it.
Chief Utum Eteng is a Private Legal Practitioner and Public Affairs Analyst 71B IBB WAY, CALABAR
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Again, one should also not be understood to mean that the political party that did not produce the serving representative should be foreclosed from challenging an incumbent representative of another party. This is far from it. The condemnable aspect is where a member of the same political party holding another exalted public office for the fun of it wants a performing representative out is not the American Style.
As a panacea to boost our copied democracy, we desire to cultivate a political culture, especially at the national legislature where ranking representatives are not replaced for the fun of it. We do not also desire a system whereby at every election green horns are elected to the federal legislature to start learning all over again. This is anti-progress and non-beneficial to legislative development. An appeal has to be made to the Nigerian political class particularly those at the front burner of this unwholesome and distractive plan to dislodge serving senators/Representative for the fun of it to have a re-think.
It is pertinent to adumbrate the fact that continuity in the legislature carries with it unity of purpose, cohesion, focus, friendship bridge building and vision for the leadership, members and the Nigerian state.
Nigerians will continue to attest to the fact that the last sessions of the senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria including the current session also led by Senator David Mark has been an epitome of a senate at peace with itself and with other two arms of government.