The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre ,CISLAC has called for a peaceful resolution of the power tussle rocking Nigeria’s national assembly. “We call on the elected members to reach out to the aggrieved legislators and maintain peace with their party to avert conflict between private interests and official duties and uphold effective functionality of the Presidency in the best interest of the nation.
“We charge the elected and appointed principal officers in the Assembly to constructively dialogue and reconcile with the aggrieved colleagues and their political party, opposition members to facilitate collaboration in the exercise of their fundamental mandates—lawmaking, oversight and representation, in the interest of peace, harmony and democracy of the country.
A statement by Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani the executive director said “ CISLAC would be happy to continue to provide support to the members of National Assembly to enhance efficiency in the conduct of the core legislative duties—lawmaking, oversight, representation and constituency outreach.
The civil society body came to the above conclusion after it “critically observed with keen interest, the ongoing political development in the National Assembly, where the struggle for leadership positions is fast becoming a priority over the nation’s democracy and national interest.
CISLAC’s statement came on the heels of shocking defeat of the candidates anointed by the All Progressives Congress, APC for the post of Senate President and Speaker House of Representatives.Bukola Saraki was voted Senate President while Yakubu Dogara emerged Speaker House of Representative.Though they belong to the APC, they were rebel candidates who became triumphant with the support of Peoples Democratic Party ,PDP lawmakers.
CISLAC noted that “the ongoing development in the National Assembly could be traced to inability and weak internal control system by the leadership of APC to inculcate discipline in its members.
“We believe that the most recent development leading to the emergence of new leaderships in the Assembly would serve as a lesson to future ruling party to prioritize adequate internal control and inculcate discipline in its members. We demand that such development should be accepted in the interest of nation’s democracy as the matter is now clearly outside of the party’s control.
CISLAC also demanded “that the ongoing struggles for elective and appointive leadership positions in the National Assembly be conducted within the legislative Code of Conduct to promote value of excellence, professionalism in the legislators’ performance; and ensure civility and responsible conduct inside and outside of the Assembly commensurate with the trust placed in legislators by the electorate and in deference to the rights of citizens and respect for the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
