That the Nigerian Federal Legislature which clocked ten uninterrupted years of its existence in June 2009 can be said to have at least garnered some appreciable political experience would certainly not be a mere verbal expression. This can be viewed from the prism of a relative stability of its leadership and management of its affairs in contrast with the recent past when the bi-cameral  National Assembly was dogged by in-fighting and constant change of leadership of both chambers that never allowed for the needed harmony required for it to function without hiccups.

While the in-fighting was limited to the two chambers, Senators and members of the House of Representatives never engaged each other in any war of supremacy since 1999 to early 2008 as there existed mutual respect for one another for clearly demarcated schedule of duties and defined boundaries.

SUPREMACY WAR
However, while there has been relative stability in leadership within the two chambers, a new and perhaps more sinister trend has emerged with the outbreak of supremacy battle between the two chambers of the National Assembly. The parting of ways between the two chambers started with the assumption of office by Honourable Dimeji Bankole as Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives who felt rightly or otherwise that the President of the Senate allegedly played a role to deflate plots for the removal of his predecessor, former Speaker Honourable Patricia Etteh which could have prevented his assuming the office.

While the plot to get Hon. Etteh out of the way was gathering momentum, Hon. Bankole was believed to have assured his colleagues that he would work to bring the House to become at par with the Senate stressing then that there was no way that the Lower Chamber with more number of Legislators should play second fiddle to the Senate with a lower number.

Unfortunately, while the subtle campaign was going on, majority of the legislators did not really understand the import of the move as they merely understood it as part of campaign rhetoric which won’t go far since in their wisdom, such a development would not in any way add any advantage to the pursuit of matters of national importance.

A careful periscope of the business and activities that largely shaped the focus of the Nigerian National Assembly in 2009, would reveal that the sad display of political strength without due regard to the provisions of the laws of the land, has started crippling the processes of law making in the country except in matters that have direct bearing with the common welfare of the members of the National Assembly.

Accordingly, there now exist a wide gulf in the activities of the two chambers of the National Assembly thereby making the legislature become very far away from meeting the desires of the people they represent particularly when considered against the backdrop of the understanding that the Legislature being the core representative arm of government, should be seen at most times to galvanise and synchronise matters that concern and to a large extent affect the people.

It would therefore not amount to vituperation to state that the National Assembly as presently constituted, is not and cannot be seen to be working in tandem with the aspirations of Nigerians going by the obvious sharp division between the two chambers that have for close to a year been more engaged in war of supremacy than facing the core issues of state which they were elected to address.

The present supremacy war which burst open in Minna, the Niger State capital in January 2009 when the initial 88 members of the National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitution Review gathered to fashion out ways for the alteration of the 1999 Constitution was initially not taken as very serious. The event which culminated in members of the House of Representatives staging a walk out occurred following the lower chamber’s insistence that the Deputy Speaker, Honourable Usman Bayero Nafada serve as Co-Chairman of the Committee. Hitherto, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu had been chairing the joint committee. But the demand of the House members met a concrete brick wall as their Senate counterparts equally insisted that the Constitution and precedence must be followed and respected to the letter.

BAD BLOOD
Unfortunately, the fight for supremacy by the Federal Legislators has now taken a toll on the polity as no single bill throughout 2009 was harmonized by the Senate and House of Representatives with the exception of the Appropriation, Virement (Budget transfer from one sub-head to another) and the Supplementary Appropriation Bills which for obvious reasons had to be passed.

The apparent difference between the Senate and the House of Representatives owing to the drawn battle line has succeeded in killing albeit temporary the long tradition of having Joint Sessions to address critical matters of State as the two chambers are now more concerned about out-doing each other on nearly every issue.
For instance, during the 10th year anniversary of the National Assembly in June, the House of Representatives rolled out the drums declaring that there was cause for celebration while the Senate on the other hand which had equally set up a committee for the celebration of the event made a u-turn just to score a point against the House by hiding under the hues and cries of Nigerians over biting cost of living and poverty in the land to cancel all its lined up activities for the event.

In announcing its decision, spokesman of the Senate, Senator Ayogu Eze said that the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly decided to accept the opinion of Nigerians especially Newspaper reports that have tended to portray the National Assembly as being insensitive to the feelings of Nigerians in relation to the economic meltdown, adding that ten years of uninterrupted Nigerian Democracy is neither silver, golden nor a platinum jubilee for Democracy.

In the words of Eze; “While we have had an uninterrupted democracy for ten years but I think that it is not such a compelling milestone that we will ignore the feelings of Nigerians and not be sensitive to the economic situation of the country.”

Senator Eze further said; “So I think it’s a period of belt tightening, it’s a period of austerity measure, a period of trying to reconstruct the economy. It’s not a period of conspicuous consumption, it’s not a period of revelry that is the message the Senate is sending out.”

Punchy as the message of the Senate was, the House of Representatives went ahead with its own celebration and immediately after the event, a major crisis of confidence broke out as some members led by the former Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Honourable Dino Melaye accused some principal officers of the House of having committed some fraudulent practices which heated the House for close to two weeks during which underground lobby and counter manoeuvre were put to test.

When eventually, the House reconvened, Maleye was left in the cold by his co-travellers to get rid of the House Majority Leader and the Chief whip Honourables Tunde Akogun and Emeka Ihedioha respectively. The development led Melaye to throw in the towel as well as resign his position as Chairman of the House Committee on Information, a move that was seen as very costly in political circles.

POWER PROBE SAGA
While the Senate and the House of Representatives would not agree to work together for the mutual benefit of Nigerians, there was however a knotty tie that seem to have brought them together. The common ground was the arrest of Honourable Ndudi Godwin Elumelu, who was then Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Power and later his Senate counterpart, Senator Nicholas Ugbane by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over award of N5.2 billion contract for the Rural Electrification project.

The heat generated by the arrest of the duo of Senator Ugbane and Hon Elumelu was quite understood when considered against the backdrop of the fact that Hon. Elumelu led the House Committee that probed the Power sector mess in which public funds running into billions of naira were sunk without any result.
Again, the Senate which had earlier declared tacit support for one of its members in the saga by declaring him innocent pending the conclusion of investigation into the matter, was to later resolve that the same Senator Ugbane has to answer his name and not that of the Senate.

The twist by the Senate was seen by political observers as largely due to alleged involvement of a core Principal Officer in the House of Representatives in the contract saga for which it was believed Elumelu acted as a shield just to protect the name of the lower chamber of the National Assembly.
While the matter may have jolted Senator Ugbane temporarily, it was however not enough to kill his spirit of oversight as he still raised serious concerns over the inability of Federal Government through the Ministry of Power to generate the targeted 6000 megawatts of electricity power generation by the end of 2009 giving the amount of resources spent in the sector.

In this wise, Ugbane as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power and Steel directed the Ministry of Power to as a matter of urgency, provide the Senate with the road map for the actualization of the set target.

GHANA FROLIC
While the furore over the arrest of Senator Ugbane was yet to simmer down, the Senate was again enmeshed in a bribe scandal following the allegation by the Special Adviser to the President on Petroleum Matters, Dr. Emmanuel Egboghah that some members of the Senate Committee on Petroleum matters were taken to Ghana and induced by some Oil companies against the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill.
The Upper House of the National Assembly which was visibly jolted by the development quickly responded by directing its Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions to immediately carry out a thorough investigation into the visit to Ghana by ten of its members under the sponsorship of some Oil companies without official approval from the Senate leadership.

However, up till the time the Senate proceeded on vacation for the Christmas and New Year holidays, nothing was ever heard of the matter again even as it was later gathered that the Senators that attended the Ghana retreat collectively met with the Senate leadership admitting that they attended the workshop in error just as they showed proof that what they were paid as allowances were not up to their commensurate estacode and other allowances due their status if they were to have travelled under the National Assembly platform.
It was gathered that each of the ten Senators was paid about $1,200 as estacode for the three day retreat without the consent and approval of the Senate leadership as against their official $560 per day for international trips.

In similar development, the Senate which set up an Ad-hoc Committee that probe the Transport sector whose Report was submitted in October, shelved consideration on the damning findings. The move is seen as part of political maneuvering and intrigues to possibly cover up some highly placed and influential members of the ruling party that were indicted by the Senator Heineken Lokpobiri led Committee.

The Report in which some former Ministers of Works were found culpable in the misuse of N300 billion in the transportation sector during former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, was hitherto scheduled for consideration by the Senate in November but was consequently shelved without explanation.
The Senate however denied being involved in any intrigues in the removal of the Report for its consideration just as it said that there was nothing strange in dropping of a Report listed on the Notice Order Paper of the Senate.

The Senator Lokpobiri led Ad-hoc Committee Report indicted former Ministers of Works that include Chief Tony Anenih, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, Dr. Obafemi Anibaba and Chief Cornelius Adebayo as well as Ministers of State that included Senator Isaiah Balat, Late Chief Garba Ali Madaki, Ambassador Aderemi Esan, Alhaji Shehu Saleh and Malam Yahaya Abdulkarim in addition to four Permanent Secretaries namely Dr. Godwin Odumah, Dr. Ramsey Mowoe, Alhaji Abubakar Umar and Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed.
In the same vein; former Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Presidential Re-Election committee of the PDP in 2003 Mallam Adamu Ciroma as well as two of his successors Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Mrs. Nennadi Usman, and the first Director-General of the Due Process Office, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili were also indicted by the Senate Committee for allegedly authorizing payments for jobs without appropriation and in some cases overshooting the amount provided for in the budget.

Another significant event in the National Assembly in 2009 was the rejection of the Electoral reform bills sent to the Federal Legislature by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The Bills which according to the President were aimed at broadening the electoral scope to ensure acceptable, free and fair elections were thrown out one after the other by the Senate which argued that there was need for more works in political education and enlightenment than just putting legal infrastructure in place saying that no matter how good the legal infrastructure is, unless the people decide to make it work, it would never work.

According to the Senate resolution as espoused by its spokesman, Senator Ayogu Eze; “The feelings of the Executive also reflect in the feelings of the Legislature. Nobody loves this country better than the other. What the Executive is driving at is a foolproof electoral process and that is what we also are driving at. We are going to meet at a point where we are going to deliver to the Nigerian people a foolproof electoral system that would deliver credible elections.”

BUDGET PRESENTATION CONTROVERSY
What can be described as one of the most absurd events in the National Assembly in 2009 was the controversy generated by the method and procedure for the presentation of the 2010 Appropriation Bill before the Joint Session of the National Assembly by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
The scheduled presentation of the 2010 to the Joint Session of the National Assembly that was expected to take place on November 24th, played part of a major script in the events that chronicled the National Assembly in 2009 as the Senate for the first time openly came out to state that the Presidential budget address would take place in its 250 seat chamber and no longer the House of Representatives chamber with more space to accommodate all the legislators.

Again, the Senate insisted that if the joint Session was not to take place in its chamber, the President should comply with the provisions of the Constitution particularly section 81(1) which states; “The President shall cause to be prepared and laid before each house of the National Assembly at any time in each financial year estimates of revenues and expenditure of the Federation for the next following financial year.”
Accordingly, Section 81(1) of the Constitution was eventually put to test thereby putting in the cove the time honoured procedure of the President addressing a Joint session of the National Assembly during presentation of Appropriation bill as President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua caused his Special Adviser on National Assembly matters Senator Mohammed Abba-Aji to lay the 2010 budget estimates before each of the two chambers of the National Assembly.

Significantly and curiously too, when the budget was being laid by his Special Adviser, President Umaru Yar’Adua was being flown to Saudi Arabia for urgent medical attention which has kept him the Arabian country till date.

The debate over President Yar’Adua’s health suddenly took away the issue of Joint Session of the National Assembly and struggle for supremacy off public commentary.

Even at that the two chambers of the national Assembly have refused to take a position on the health status of the ailing President. The Senate in particular technically blocked attempt by its Deputy Majority Leader Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba to discuss the state of health of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who is receiving medical attention in a Saudi Arabian hospital.?Senator Ndoma-Egba who rose and cited Order 42 (1) and (2) of the standing rules of the Senate had urged his colleagues to discuss the failing health of President Yar’Adua.?In deliberately rejecting the motion, President of the Senate David Mark who had on several occasions called for prayers for Yar’Adua’s quick recovery said that while he had no problem with Senator Ndoma-Egba’s motion for prayers for President Yar’Adua, the motion had to go through the appropriate Order.

The senate President who psyched the Senators on the need not to discuss such a motion further said; “I have no problem with the motion but as is required by Order 42, I have to seek the consent of the Senate and if we are up to one-fifth in support of his moving the motion, then we allow him to raise the motion. It is a very short motion.”

Senator Ndoma-Egba had wanted his motion to go beyond what the Senate President told the Senators when he started by saying; “The subject matter of my motion which I discussed with you yesterday and this morning is the State of Health of our dear President, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
However, when the motion on the health of President Yar’Adua which came under order 42 of the Standing Order of the Senate was put to voice vote by the Senate President, majority of the Senators voted against it.
Commenting on the motion, chairman of the Senate committee on information and Media, Senator Ayogu Eze said that an overwhelming majority of the Senators turned downed the motion in order not to expend its energy on frivolities as against more serious matters of State particularly when the President of the Senate had spoken on the matter.

In spite of all that happened, the two chambers of the national Assembly committees on the Review of the 1999 Constitution are working assiduously to alter the aspects that would allow for effective electoral reforms in the country. This is expected to be concluded in the first quarter of 2010 if ego and supremacy war give way to sense of reasoning and national interest.

The sum total of the issues involved in the National Assembly is the need to do away with mundane matters of egocentric feelings, pride and supremacy but to concentrate on issues of national importance for the sustainability of democracy and development of the nation for the good of all.