10th National Assembly And The Minority Leadership

Last week, both chambers of the National Assembly (Senate and Reps) concluded the composition of their respective leaderships by announcing those who will be assisting the presiding officers in providing legislative direction for the nation in the next four years.

In the Senate, Plateau-born two-term member of the House of Representatives and a former LGA chairman, Senator (Dr) Simon Mwadkon was unanimously endorsed as Minority Leader with another two-term member of the green chambers, Abia State-born Senator Darlington Nwokocha named the Senate Minority Whip. While Mwadkon is of the PDP, Nwokocha is of the LP.

In the House of Representatives, 4th term member of the green chambers and former Commissioner, Rivers State born Kingsley Chinda and two term member of the same chamber, Gombe State born JC Ali Isa were named Minority leader and Minority Whip respectively. This followed the election of the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives and their deputies which were done on the day of inauguration ( 13th June,2023).

The nature of the membership  composition of the 10th National assembly will make legislative predictions quite difficult. This Nissan because unlike before,many political parties have enough members to cause an action to happen. The national assembly has never been this composed of different parties in reasonable numbers that can cause sleepless nights to a ruling party, especially that of the green chambers. About 4 political parties are involved namely the PDP, LP, APGA, and SDP are involved while the first three have shared the minority positions of leadership. The PDP has both the minority leader and whip, while the NNPP got the deputy minority position and the LP getting the deputy minority Whip. Even though the Apc has more members by way of simple majority, the joint total of the different political parties out number them. That means that if the opposition  keep itself intact on every issue, the result will be class restlessness for the executive and the legislative leaderships of government. This is good because it will strengthen the principles of separation of power, checks and balances and independence of the parliament. Because of this uniqueness, many had expected the greater majority to produce the deputy Speaker of the House to pair with an Apc Speaker as it happened in the senate during the 8th National Assembly. If the opposition had spoken with one voice, such a feat would  have easily happened, but as it is with politics, realignment and permutations have designed the process the way it is at this time. In the Senate however, the ruling Apc has a comfortable majority because the total number of Apc senators is more than those of the opposition combined.

Now that full leadership positions have been constituted in both chambers of the apex legislature, the bussiness of lawmaking, oversight and proper representation will begin in ernest.

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Since the nature of democracy itself is such that accommodates all shades of opinions and respects individual rights and privileges, both the majority and the minority caucuses have to work together to agree on laws and every other step to be taken in the process of governance. That makes it quite interesting because no matter the number and strength of the opposition in a parliament, it must have a leadership and a space to operate. Unlike the executive that doesn’t have a constitutional space for opposition, the legislature has a recognised platform for representation and venting of grievances. Thatnis what makes the game of democracy thick.

Looking at the 10th National Assembly, it will be interesting to watch how proceedings will go. Having Mwadkon and China( both experienced legislators of repute) drive the vehicles of the opposition at this time is truly a parliament to watch. Both of them are experienced political players with records of parliamentary knowledge, understanding,respect and cognate experience.Both have served at the national assembly for a number of years required for comfortable legislative leadership. It is therefore expected of them to galvanise the rich opposition resources under their supervision for maximum legislative utility for the progress of the nation. Opposition is not neccesarily about confrontation and needless quarrels, but about ensuring that things are done rightly in accordance with the rule of law and due process. It is about recognising and respecting the rights and privileges of everyone in the process and jointly checking the excesses of other arms of government through the instrumentality of constructive and critical criticism and engagement. In a democracy, the work of the opposition is more critical because all lapses are analysed and assessed from their performance or lack of it. It’s the constitutional duty of the opposition parties to strengthen the democratic process by keeping the ruling party in check. It is also the duty of the opposition to align with the masses of the society to put the government in proper check. It serves as the voice of the society.

The present opposition leadership in both chambers is expected to play this role especially at a time like this when issues of insecurity, socio-economic crisis ,etc dominates the country. No issue is hidden anymore from public glare and whatever is done is assessed and measured by the level of commensurate response of the legislature.

There is very high expectation from the public from the opposition leaders of the two chambers, and knowing the duo of Senator Mwadkon and Hon Chinda and their colleagues, it is believed that the quality of legislative checks and balances will be superb. Mwadkon and Chinda are physically very gentle personalities but mentally very aggressive and alert. Both of them talk less and don’t make noise, but the legislative temperament in them can better be imagined than described.

I believe that the executive leadership of the nation will find them very apt and strategic in assessing the progress of government.