The lawmaker representing Kebbi South Senatorial District, Senator Bala Na’Allah is of the opinion that the National Assembly’s process of earlier deciding on Direct Primaries, was not painstaking enough.
According to Senator Na’Allah, it is the failure to be very meticulous on the matter, that warranted the parliament to rescind its decision in such a very short period of time.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, the lawmaker argued that if honestly, the lawmakers were very thorough as regards the decision they made, it would not take an individual to make over 400 parliamentarians change their minds so quickly.
“If we have 109 senators and we have 360 members of the House of Representatives painstakingly going through a process to arrive at a decision and we have the executive where there is only one person elected, declining assent to that decision, two things will show here.
“One, that maybe the National Assembly did not painstakingly go through the process because if they did honestly, they may not have arrived at the decision where one head became better than almost 500 and something people,” he contended.
He further explained “It is astonishing that 109 senators and 360 members will sit down and make a decision and within no time come back and say we’re reversing ourselves. It means the process that led us to arrive at that decision was not painstaking enough.
“Yeah, it wasn’t painstaking enough. If it were, I’m absolutely sure there’s no how all of us can reverse ourselves in a very dramatic manner.
“The point I am trying to make is that in whatever position you find yourself, you must be extremely careful when you are making a decision that is going to affect the Nigerian nation, and in doing so, that’s why our oath of office has always insisted never ever allow personal interests to affect your official decision and conduct, it’s in the oath of office”.
Senator Na’Allah advised that in the future, in order to develop the nation’s democracy, those who have been elected and who have sworn to an oath of office should try as much as they can to live within the confines of the oath which they have taken.
He urged lawmakers and those at the helm of affairs to avoid situations that are dramatic and as embarrassing as the situation that the current Assembly has found itself.
Buttressing his earlier position, the lawmaker argued that “if the process had been painstaking enough and there was commitment and honesty in the process that led to the decision made, then, I am absolutely sure it will provide a corresponding commitment to override Mr. president on that matter”.
He maintained that the National Assembly is not being tele-guided, and debunked claims suggesting that the parliament is a rubber stamp Assembly.
Adding that on the electoral bill issue, what was missing was a robust debate and a democratic opinion collation process.