Tinubu’s Administration will Exert Highest Influence on N’Assembly, Says OrderPaper

Juliet Akoje in Abuja

A new report by OrderPaper Nigeria has posited that the Presidency Bola Tinubu’s administration will exert the highest influence and impact on the National Assembly in the history of the country’s presidential democracy in a way that either strengthens the legislature or reinforces its widely perceived rubber stamp status.

The report, which focuses on the transition of politicians ‘From the Legislature to the Executive (FLEX), is a niche edition of OrderPaper’s Quarterly Policy Review (QPR) series. 

The FLEX edition establishes that the character and composition of the Tinubu government are defining factors not only of its relationship with the National Assembly but also the legacy of governance and democratic imprints the president will leave behind in office. 

In a statement, Oke Epia, Founder/Executive Director of OrderPaper Nigeria, said the FLEX report delves into critical but hitherto unexplored facets of Nigeria’s governance architecture and sheds light on the intricate dynamics between the legislature and executive branches of government, adding that the work presents a challenge to academics and research institutions, policymakers, media practitioners and public analysts, among others, to deep dive into the phenomenon in a bid to enhance governance and democracy in Nigeria.     

“FLEX is our modest contribution to the quest for democratic accountability in Nigeria, laying a solid and objective basis to not only gauge the democratic temperament of the current administration, specifically in its checks-and-balance relationship with the legislature, but also measure the ongoing stewardship and legacy of President Tinubu and the state governors concerned,” Epia said. 

A former member of the House of Representatives and ex-DG/CEO of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside, challenged FLEXes to live up to public expectations by bringing their “experience and exposure in parliament to smoothen relations between branches and advance the delivery of policy outputs that fulfil democratic dividends,” and not “become instruments of wilful and inordinate subjugation of the legislature and, by extension, undermine the core principles of separation of powers and checks and balances upon which modern-day democracy is built.”