The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has said the National Assembly under his leadership will continue to partner with the administration of President Bola Tinubu, despite the legislature’s constitutional responsibility to scrutinise the executive arm.
Mr Akpabio stated this on Friday when he led a delegation of National Assembly members to visit Mr Tinubu in Lagos as part of activities marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary.
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He said the decision of the National Assembly to partner with the executive, rather than act solely as a watchdog, was in the interest of Nigerians.
“On the part of the National Assembly, we want to continue to remain worthy partners to the administration of President Bola Tinubu. And we believe that what we are doing is in the interest of all Nigerians,” he said.
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The relationship between Nigeria’s executive and legislative arms of government is based on separation of powers, checks and balances, rather than the legislature serving as a partner of the executive in implementing government policies.
Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution vests legislative powers in the National Assembly, while Sections 88 and 89 empower both chambers to investigate the conduct of government ministries, departments and agencies and persons responsible for administering laws and public funds.
The Constitution specifically provides that the investigative powers of the National Assembly may be used to expose corruption, inefficiency or waste in the administration of laws and the disbursement or administration of public funds.
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The legislature also exercises control over public spending through its power to consider and approve the executive’s budget proposals. This means that while the National Assembly can cooperate with the executive on legislation and policies, it is constitutionally expected to independently scrutinise the government’s actions.
The 10th National Assembly’s relationship with the Tinubu administration has always been seen as a contrast to the provision of the constitution.
Since its inauguration in June 2023, the Assembly has repeatedly been criticised by opposition politicians, civil society organisations and some lawmakers for its excessive cooperation with the executive. Critics have accused the lawmakers of approving several presidential requests with little scrutiny, prompting some to describe the legislature as a “rubber stamp” for the administration.
The criticism has followed the assembly’s handling of several major executive requests, including borrowing proposals, budget amendments and extensions, presidential nominations and other policy initiatives.
In April, Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) criticised the National Assembly for the hurried approval of President Tinubu’s request for $6 billion in foreign loans, arguing that the process did not demonstrate sufficient legislative scrutiny.
There have also been complaints from within the National Assembly itself. In November 2025, Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, accused the Senate leadership of rushing bills through the chamber without giving senators adequate time to examine their details.
He said lawmakers were not meant to “rubber-stamp” legislation. Following his complaint, the Senate leadership directed that bills should, where possible, be made available to senators at least two days before consideration.
The 10th Assembly’s leadership, however, has consistently rejected the description of the legislature as a rubber stamp. Mr Akpabio has repeatedly argued that lawmakers were not elected to fight the president but to work with the executive in the interest of Nigerians.
The approach of the 10th Assembly can be contrasted with periods in which previous National Assemblies had more visible disagreements with the executive.
Under Bukola Saraki as senate president, the 8th Senate frequently clashed with the Muhammadu Buhari administration over appointments, legislation and the budget. In March 2018, Mr Saraki said the Senate had rejected 13 of 240 executive nominees submitted by the late President Buhari over a period of more than two years, while confirming 227.
The period under former Senate President David Mark also produced significant instances of the legislature asserting itself in relation to the executive. In February 2010, the National Assembly invoked the controversial “doctrine of necessity” to recognise then-Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as acting president after President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had been away from the country for an extended period without formally transmitting a letter transferring presidential powers.
Reviewing obsolete laws
Mr Akpabio said the partnership between the legislature and the executive had helped the National Assembly review and amend some outdated laws in the country.
He referenced reform of the tax system, including changes relating to stamp duties, as an example.
“You’ve seen already, in three years, we have been able to tinker with all the anachronistic and old laws that we met on the ground. You know very well that things like stamp duties were laws that were in 1939. And some of the laws were incorporated in 1901. And the laws of 1959 were incorporated into the Nigerian Constitution, the current one we are having. And many of them have not been changed.
Mr Akpabio said the National Assembly’s passage of four major tax laws was part of efforts to reform Nigeria’s economic system, adding that the laws were passed despite initial concerns from sections of the country over their possible implications.
“Stamp duties and so many others….. So you’ve seen the reform in the tax system. Let me use the word economic system, with four major tax laws brought into the country at one time. Very voluminous, all of them. And then, because we were able to digest them, we were able to do what we ought to do.
“And we were able to pass them in record time with the whole country in agreement. At the beginning, people were very sceptical and said, “What are they trying to do? Are they trying to make a law for one section or the other?” We say we are all for all Nigeria. It’s a people’s parliament and we are doing that,” he said.
Screening of presidential nominees
Mr Akpabio also defended the speed with which the National Assembly sometimes screens and confirms presidential nominees, describing it as part of its partnership with the executive.
READ ALSO: ‘Tinubu’s policies killed my mother, I couldn’t afford her drugs’ – Amaechi
“You’ve seen the speed with which we pass legislations that benefit Nigeria. You’ve seen the speed that we clear people who are coming to add value to the current administration. You’ve seen the partnership in terms of laws that definitely will change the paradigm of the Nigerian trajectory,” he sud.
The senate president said the National Assembly would continue to deepen its partnership with the executive.
“And so we will continue to do that. That’s our own contribution. We are elected for that and we partner with an administration which we believe is focused and which is determined to change the fortunes of Nigeria.
“Don’t forget, it’s easy to say with the mouth, but difficult to do. But in our own case, we are matching words with action. And so the government is going forward,” Mr Akpabio said.
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