Senator Adams Oshiomhole of Edo North Senatorial District has defended the 10th National Assembly after being labelled a rubber stamp.
Oshiomhole, in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Sunday, said the lawmakers are not voted for to engage in a brawl with the executive.
Accrding to him, lawmakers would become “bunch of rascals” if they fight executive at every guy given opportunity.
He noted that that the National Assembly is carrying out its constitutional duties – to oversee projects, deliberate on bills, and represent their constituencies.
The former governor of Edo State also said the lawmakers have not consented to any law that has caused harm to Nigerians.
Oshiomhole said, “There’s a perception that the National Assembly is a rubber stamp? So if we start boxing the presidency just to prove independence, then we become a bunch of rascals.
“Is that what we were elected for, to go and box? Tell me, which law have we rubber-stamped that is harmful to Nigerians? Just name one that passed without robust debate.
“We deliberate, we debate, and we make decisions based on merit, not on the optics of opposition.”
The Senator’s clarification comes amid widespread perception among Nigerians that the National Assembly always consents to President Bola Tinubu’s requests.
Nigerians do cite the swiftness with which the lawmakers consented to Tinubu’s request to change the country’s national anthem.
Also, their endorsement of the President’s state of emergency declaration in Rivers state, where elected Governor Siminilayi Fubara, his deputy, and all members of the state assembly were suspended for six months.
