NASS ELECTION: Did Senator Saraki Disobey the Presidency?
Or, Did the Presidency Misjudge its Power vis-a-vis the Senate?
-Attorney Patryk Utulu**

How you view the cup -- as half-full or half-empty -- may depend on your initial expectation. It is not in dispute that one of the main victors of the 2015 Nigerian National Assembly (NASS) leadership election, the new Senate President, Bukola Abubakar Saraki, has a well-earned reputation for more than a few things not earned well. But elbowing his way to power does not make him a monster. He is, after all, a politician and in politics acquiring power is a pre-condition to whatever you choose to do.

Believers in the immaculate political messianism of the current Presidency would have us believe that the Senator Saraki cohort committed political treason for "failing to be obedient to the President's order to wait for direction" before the 2015 NASS leadership election, as a senior Nigerian professional colleague complained over the phone in a voice that was far from civil. (I'll spare you the curses and incantations he rained on Senator Saraki and co.)

Political TREASON?
Federal SENATORS?
Must be OBEDIENT?
To a President's ORDER?

Hmmm. How do you solve a problem like Nigeria? OK, here's what to know:

Federal Senators and House Representatives do NOT work for the Presidency. The President is not their "oga." Technically speaking, and excepting for the fact that the Senate and the House usually act as a collective, each Federal Senator and Representative is equal to the Nigerian President. The President did NOT hire them, has no power to sack them and, cannot on his own negate their salaries and compensations. Okay, here is also the "reductio ad absurdium" of our politics: if the Nigerian President pisses off a sufficient number of NASS members they can and will impeach him, and as we have seen at state levels all over Nigeria, impeachment no longer requires a good excuse, much less good faith.

This is NOT a military regime!!!

The President can only ask, persuade or engage in trade-off with NASS. Nigerians who fail to log out of their antiquated militarist, monarchist and theocratic political vocabulary (e.g., "President Buhari ORDERED the Senators to wait" will continue to dance with disappointment. And please STOP referring to the House of Representatives as "the junior chamber" or "the lower House." (Those descriptive apply to legislative units in Parliamentary systems and Nigeria has a Presidential system of government). The Senate and the House of Representatives are co-equal units of the Nigerian Legislature, even though the Senate President is the "Chairman" of the National Assembly for the purpose of joint sessions.

To succeed (and I NEED him to succeed!), President Muhammadu Buhari must set realistic goals, prioritize the immediate needs of ordinary Nigerians, understand the limits of his powers vis-a-vis the National Assembly and then, appoint credible and competent liaison officers (NOT "kabiyesi-"minded political hangers-on) to proactively engage the NASS leadership/liaison officers in the daily negotiations that limit public food fights, and result in successful policies.

Now, let's try the proper political 'reciprocity' language: the President REQUESTS the National Assembly to....

Good. Good. Try it again....

******
Attorney Patryk A. Utulu
U.S.-based Attorney & Strategic Communications Specialist
Global Defense Analyst and Global Events Commentator
Executive Vice President, Nigerian Diaspora-North America
Executive Director, The Center 4 Community Empowerment & Lifeskills, Inc
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