…as Dogara seeks understanding in Presidency-NASS Feud
By; SUNDAY ODE, Abuja
Senate President, Bukola. Saraki, on Monday said the suspension of former Senate Majority Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume, was beyond his powers.
Ndume was last week suspended for six months by the Red Chamber for failing to prove allegations of corruption and certificate scandal he leveled against Saraki and Senator Dino Melaye respectively.
“We should try and understand how the parliament works, I wish I had such powers; these powers you give me, I wish I had them. The President of Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives is first among equals. They are just presiding officers. People give us this powers that we have, decisions that are taken in plenary is decision of all but I have a role to be able to convey the message, I will convey the message of the visit of the Governor of Borno and the Senate is one,we are all one family,” Saraki said.
He, however, stated that “There will be issues like that, there is nothing that is sacrosanct or rigid.”
Saraki spoke while fielding questions from State House Correspondents on the fallout of the visit of Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, to him over Ndume’s suspension. He was at the Presidential Villa for a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
Saraki also said there was nothing to worry about over the current feud between the Presidency and the federal legislature.
He expressed optimism that issues of common national interest would always overshadow whatever perceived differences that seemed to exist between the two arms of government.
“Like I said there will always be issues on one or two things, it doesn’t mean that is the foundation of it. When you have an arm of government that has to do with confirmation there will always be, for example, the NDDC bill we rejected three people from NDDC, we keep on moving, we are all part of one government that is why despite all these, still major decisions are taken. Like I said we did a critical amendments on INEC by Tuesday or Wednesday for the first time in the history of the legislature,we are going to lay a report on the PIB for consideration, it has never happened, for the past 20 years it has not gotten to this stage, so its work in progress for the interest of Nigeria.
“Don’t let us get distracted by one or two infractions, its bound to happen, even America that we are copying even today as we are watching, see what is happening in the Supreme court. These are things that happen on the part of democracy but I can reassure Nigerians that it’s just a drop in the ocean, it is not an issue that should stir the whole nation, be rest assured!
“You cannot examine the relationship based on NDDC, based on EFCC, we have other issues,we have ministerial nominees that we are going to be working on, we have the budget that is more important, we have INEC, PIB we have so many important things and I think its a mixture of all that should guide us,” he said.
Also, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, noted that the seeming face-off between the Presidency and legislature should not be seen as antithetical to the democratic growth of the nation.
According to him, such occasional disagreements were necessary ingredients that would nourish the nation’s democracy and made it to stand the test of time.
Dogara who was also at the Presidential Villa to hold consultations with President Muhammadu Buhari maintained that the relationship between the two arms of government was cordial.
He said: “You might look at it as crisis but I don’t look at it as crisis. You know I have always said this that as a government our value will be the problems we have solved. We can’t be remembered for avoiding, we can’t be remembered for running away from problems, it is only when we provide solution to some of the things you refer to as crisis and we look at it as opportunities to begin anew that people will now remember us for putting down enduring legacies. But when we run away from every thing that appears to be trouble, we will not make it.”
