The 10th Assembly must serve Nigerians, not the Presidency

Two years into its tenure, the 10th National Assembly has proven itself to be neither a vibrant legislative force nor a true representation of the Nigerian people.

What ought to be the cornerstone of democracy has instead become an echo chamber of executive power, reciting slogans, approving policies without scrutiny, and evading the most basic responsibilities bestowed upon it by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

This is not merely political complacency. It is a constitutional collapse in slow motion and the consequences will be far-reaching unless corrected immediately.

The moment that best captured the 10th Assembly’s institutional degradation occurred on November 29, 2023, when members of the National Assembly, instead of rising in dignified silence or singing the national anthem during President Bola Tinubu’s 2024 budget presentation, broke into chants of “On Your Mandate We Shall Stand.”

That scene was not accidental. It was reenacted again on December 18, 2024, during the 2025 budget presentation. Once might be a blunder.

Twice is a pattern. In that moment, the Legislature told Nigerians, in no uncertain terms, where their loyalty lies and it is not with the people.

This editorial is triggered not only by that political theatre but by the compounding inaction that has followed.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s recent remark that lawmakers “were not elected to fight the Executive” was not merely a personal opinion, it was a doctrinal confession of surrender.

In the documentary marking President Tinubu’s two years in office, Akpabio claimed: “Your constituents will not give you boxing gloves. It’s not a boxing tournament.”

But what Nigerians gave their lawmakers was something far more consequential than boxing gloves: a mandate to serve, to interrogate, to legislate, and to hold power accountable.

Let it be said without equivocation: a legislature that does not question the Executive has ceased to be a co-equal branch of government.

Since June 2023, Nigerians have faced one of the harshest economic downturns in modern history. Fuel subsidy removal plunged millions into deeper poverty.

Currency devaluation eroded the value of incomes. Electricity tariffs were hiked through the Band A regime, benefiting the few and punishing the many. Palliatives announced with fanfare remain largely undelivered.

Where was the National Assembly during these national upheavals? Mostly silent. Mostly passive. Mostly complicit.

Instead of summoning ministers and agency heads for genuine oversight, the Legislature has focused on choreographed hearings with no consequences.

When lawmakers attempted to question certain reforms or resist executive overreach, they were removed from committee leadership or politically isolated.

Is this the National Assembly Nigerians were promised in 2023? Is this the chamber that replaced scores of “underperforming” incumbents during the last general election? Was the voters’ revolution at the polls in vain?

The Nigerian Constitution is unambiguous. Section 4 vests legislative power in the National Assembly to make laws for the peace, order, and good governance of the Federation. Sections 88 and 89 empower the Legislature to conduct investigations and summon any person in the service of the Federation for public accountability.

These are not ceremonial provisions. They are sacred duties.

By outsourcing legislative judgment to the Executive, by rubber-stamping policies without due process, by failing to demand results from MDAs and ignoring citizen grievances, the 10th Assembly has not only betrayed public trust, it has violated the Constitution it swore to uphold.

When Senate President Akpabio boasts of laws mandating MDAs to patronize locally made vehicles while lawmakers themselves continue to import exotic SUVs, it insults the very idea of patriotism.

When they praise the "Nigeria First" policy but send their children to foreign universities and fly abroad for medical care, the hypocrisy is unbearable. Nigerians are not asking for miracles; they are demanding sincerity, equality, and justice.

The time has come for the National Assembly to redeem itself or prepare to face the consequences.

Legislators must remember that their primary allegiance is to the people of Nigeria, not to the President