Senate President Ahmed Lawan has said that his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, could not perform optimally because of the crisis that existed between the parliament and the Executive during Bukola Saraki’s tenure as President of the Senate.
Recall that Saraki was the Senate President of Nigeria from 2015 to 2019, during President Muhammadu Buhari’s first tenure in office.
Lawan who succeeded Saraki, said the APC government was hindered from delivering on its promises to the electorates during the first term because the two bodies did not have a cordial rapport.
The Senate President said this at the First Progressives Youth Conference 2021, on Monday night in Abuja, PeoplesGazette reports.
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He said, “When we were voted in 2019 as leaders of the National Assembly, we were conscious of one thing, that the mandate that was given to us by Nigerians in 2015 had suffered disruption and dislocation.
“For four years (2015 to 2019), our government could not perform optimally because of the then crisis between the parliament – the National Assembly – and the Executive arm of government.
“So, A.P.C. had already lost four very important years. And, that was supposed to be the year that we should have convinced Nigerians that they took the right decision by voting out a PDP administration in 2015.”
The Saraki-led National Assembly endured a torrid relationship with the executive, as it sought to assert its authority as the second tier of government.
The Senate in 2018 rejected Buhari’s request for $1billion for the purchase of arms. It also refused to confirm former head of anti-graft agency Ibrahim Magu as EFCC chairman.
Source: SaharaReporters