A Second Republic member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has said the feud between the President and members of the National Assembly over the purchase of vehicles is dangerous for Nigeria’s democracy.
Mohammed said this in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Tuesday.
He was reacting to President Muhammadu Buhari’s claim during the Presidential media chat that the National Assembly was planning to spend N47bn on exotic cars and the subsequent response by legislators.
Mohammed explained that the spat is an outward manifestation of a deeper level of disconnect between the President and National Assembly as well as the President and his party even though none of the two parties have expressed a willingness to discuss it.
The second republic lawmaker noted that it was ethically wrong for legislators to take car loans and at the same time buy cars for themselves.
This, he said, calls for a greater look into the state of Nigeria’s democracy.
Mohammed said, “If you go to the outline of these issues, it is not just the issue of whether they want cars for themselves or not, it is a question of contempt for the President and the Presidency and turning what is an issue of principle
Source: Punchngand issue of tact, an issue of respect for public opinion into a personal issue on the President.
Source: Punchngand issue of tact, an issue of respect for public opinion into a personal issue on the President.
“What the National Assembly is doing in this matter is very dangerous.”
He also said what is happening calls on Nigerians to take a look at the state of our democracy and the state of the relationship between the Presidency and the National Assembly, between the President himself and his own political party.
Mohammed said, “On both counts, it has to be admitted that the relationship is neither healthy nor is it realistic.
“It is not healthy because one of the parties believes that it is over and above its leader and it is beyond being called to order by a leader, a personality or even a national constituency like labour, or the political party system.
“I believe it is not in the interest of this country to have a President to be at logger heads with his own party and being portrayed by leading members of his party as being either outlandish or being unrealistic in wanting to tame their excesses.”
Mohammed also noted that unless something is urgently done to salvage the situation, the All Progressives Congress will spend the next three and half years trying to settle one dispute or the other while governance is left to suffer.
He stressed that if the current situation is not properly handled, it has the potential of throwing the ruling party into a crisis it may be unable to recover from.
According to him, elected members of the party owe it a duty to Nigerians to focus more on how to revive the economy and address the lingering security challenge instead of issues about their personal comfort.
No comments:
Post a Comment