LEWIS OBI 08173446632 sms only [email protected]
A referendum on the National Assembly has become imperative because Nigeria’s rather fragile structure of democratic government might collapse from the pressure of the cost of government. The signs that the economy cannot sustain our current bureaucracies have appeared in state governments, two-thirds of which can no longer guarantee regular payment of salaries to civil servants and teachers.
What needs to be established is Nigeria’s choice between a bicameral and a unicameral legislature. After 17 years and trillions of Naira spent on the Senate and the House, it doesn’t quite appear there is anything the two chambers have done which a single chamber cannot do. We have had two chambers not because we needed them but because other countries have them. A second question which a referendum should also answer is whether it would not be more efficient to have the legislature as a part-time occupation and its remuneration fixed by an independent body free from the influences which have rendered the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission impotent.
A part-time schedule would appear to lessen the pressure of the do-or-die competition and attract men and women whose interest is to serve the people. Now the National Assembly is nothing but a business enterprise and the primary objective of members is to make money for themselves. And plenty do they make, being the highest paid legislature in the world. Now if the money-making factor is reduced considerably, it would free the legislators from being secretive about their earnings. They are secretive about their current earnings because the figures are embarrassing. The figures are embarrassing because they bear no resemblance to the realities of the Nigerian economy and international comparisons make them appear like something out of this world. For instance, the authoritative Economist magazine, has reported that the lowest paid Nigerian legislator earns 116 times of the income per capita, the proportion is 60 in Kenya, 30 in Ghana, and 18 in Indonesia. There is nothing to compare with that degree of disparity anywhere in the world. It tells you at a glance that income inequality in Nigeria is probably the highest in the world.
The estimated cost of the National Assembly per annum has been placed conservatively at N500 billion. It includes the direct allocation of between N120 billion and N150 billion the members simply split among themselves as allowances (there are 17 different allowances), benefits, and salaries. It includes the so-called constituency projects which constitute below-the-line expense which mostly finds its way into the pockets of members. Dr. Junaid Mohammed once noted that “ours is a parliament where members decree constituency projects for themselves, award constituency projects to their companies and make corruption more popular in Nigeria.”
The above estimate does not include the bribery that is known to be demanded and received from ministries, departments and agencies and corporations. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that going by their records, National Assembly members have lost the moral legitimacy to pretend that they could conduct oversight functions over any government or corporate establishment in Nigeria. To the extent that no one knows precisely what the National Assembly costs the country, since the Assembly shrouds its finances in mystery, most Nigerian have realized that the cost cannot but be extremely high, given the demonstrated greed of members to enrich themselves.
Numerous calls to cut down on costs have been ignored by members. The labour unions have given up trying to hit their heads against brick walls. Members describe their position in transcendental terms. Their halls are “hallowed” chambers even though they have been turned to boxing rings sometimes. Where they describe themselves as “honourable” members, Nigerians see mendacious ‘agbero’ thugs. Pius Adesanmi once observed that “the National Assembly has been Nigeria’s most notorious assembly of integrity-challenged and irresponsible graspers since 1999. It is also the retirement home of retired looters from the Executive. If you are looking for the highest number of indicted Africans in one single room go to Nigeria’s National Assembly.”
Every democratic legislature in the world is invested with what is traditionally called the power of the purse. It is such a position of trust and responsibility – to allocate and dispense resources with prudence and thrift. The originators of that ancient but honoured convention did not envisage a body like the National Assembly. They did not reckon that a legislature could operate and be so afraid to show its paycheck to the people it serves. It is so secret among members you could never find anyone speak publicly about it. The secrecy is kept in what appears like an all-party non-disclosure pact.
Now the issue bubbles to the surface now and then but members reckon that Nigerians are culturally not wired for sustained agitation, not on a scale to upturn the political order. They also reckon that any real change against the Assembly would require a constitutional amendment. The result is a legislature that spends money like a drunken sailor. Some months ago when they awarded themselves each a second luxury car, a car they did not need, even President Muhammadu Buhari shuddered at their insensitivity and promised to talk with them to do a rethink as the nation drifted into economic recession. He apparently failed to persuade them and the members received the cars so dear to their hearts which cost N37 million apiece.
Most Nigerians are cynical of the government’s attempt to probe past corruption because the National Assembly, the legislative arm of the government is totally acting in the opposite direction. A campaign against corruption that does not include the legislature would only scratch the surface. When the President Buhari declared his assets publicly with the Vice-President Osibajo, the next layer of the nation’s leadership, the National Assembly, was expected to follow. It did not.
On the contrary, the President of the Senate was indicted for false declaration of assets, which was bad enough. But even worse was his spirited effort to frustrate his prosecution at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. All kinds of subterfuges have been used to stall the trial and other Nigerians have already lost interest in the matter knowing it would get nowhere because the National Assembly also acts as if it is above the law. When a critical article appears it is often ignored, or ridiculed, or the Assembly would mobilize its squad of ghost writers to begin a disinformation campaign to discredit such criticism. But what has not been in doubt is that the country is almost broke partly because the cost of governance is too high. The country cannot maintain its infrastructure because money is looted illegally through the executive branch and legally and illegally through the legislative branch. The remnant which falls through the cracks is too meager to make a dent on the nation’s needs.
The Minister of Finance recently recalled the government spending N19 billion on transport infrastructure and N825 billion on travels and allied expenses. But until the nation gets its legislature to work properly, nothing else will matter, and the fight on corruption would never get to the bottom and will fizzle out like other such attempts before it.