In less than a month after the All Progressives Congress (APC) became the ruling party; thanks to the mandate of Nigerians and the trust reposited in the party, the APC appears to be loosing control over its own government. The strategic arm of government which is the legislative arm, is increasingly becoming the abode of the minority which has miraculously turned into the majority; thanks to the over-ambitious Senator Bukola Saraki and Honourable Yakubu Dogara.

The APC predicament which happened against all odds, forced the landlord to be a tenant in his own house and the majority became the minority in their own domain. The consequence of these occurrences will surely make it very difficult for the APC to implement all their electoral promises without the consent of the National Assembly (NASS) leadership. True reforms and good governance will almost be impossible under these conditions in a country like Nigeria where there are so much laws that need to be amended or newly passed so as to address future challenges without sparing challenges of yesterday and today.

The conduct of both the Senate House and House of Representatives speak volume about the differences in the interests of the APC leadership and that of the rebellious caucus in the APC; which has imposed itself on the APC leadership by tapping into the political resources of their adopted political party (Peoples Democratic Party). This has also shown that there will be no compromise except the APC accept the imposers as the custodian of authority on behalf of the APC's leadership in the NASS, irrespective of the party leadership's interests.

I duly respect the decision of the APC and that of President Muhammadu Buhari (The Peoples General) to be diplomatic in addressing this embarrassing situation but Nigerians are becoming increasingly intolerant to the possibility of the NASS going rogue and detached from the change we all seek by electing into the Aso Rock President Buhari and ensuring that the APC have the simple majority in both Upper House and Lower House of the NASS.

This intolerance was not just a reaction to the taking over of the legislative arm of government by dissidents and contributors to the devastation of the national economy but because this may be the beginning of the end of the "Change Project" that we all invested into in one way or the other. For the change project to be fulfilled; there must be appointment of ministers of same interests and with the capacity to fulfil tasks assigned to them by the President, cooperative legislative arm and efficient judiciary system.

Unfortunately, none of these will be possible with a legislative arm that has gone haywire and will possibly be making unholy demands just as the leadership of the arm of government is unholy, before it could perform its duty effectively and promptly. Therefore, the policy of "I belong to everybody and nobody" must be abandoned if the bad must be stopped from becoming worse and the intentions of threatening President Buhari's mandate must be nipped in the bud.

It is a general knowledge that APC did allow this to happen irrespective of the stance of President Buhari and the ambitions of Senate President Saraki and Speaker Dogara. To avoid dwelling in the past and bringing to the fore; steps that could have been taken to prevent this embarrassing situation, I will urge APC leadership to make drastic decisions that will see NASS leadership change hands and whip all dissenting members into line. It is of utmost importance, to note that, most of these drastic decisions will be impossible to effect without the support of President Buhari.

This is neither the time to be bothered about being called a dictator nor the time to carry the burden of promoting democracy when governance is at stake. Majority of Nigerians will love to see a democratic dictator that will protect their interests without any prejudice, protect Nigeria's sovereignty and territorial integrity but they will surely regret electing a promoter of democracy and due process at the detriment of these fundamental interests.

The APC leadership and President Buhari must rise up to these embarrassing NASS crisis that has put the project of "change" at risk of not being fulfilled, and do the necessary to ensure that they are true to their electoral promises. As the Yorubas will say; to make a statement and be true to one's statement is the prestige of the virtuous.


Abiola Akintunde lives and work in Ibadan, Nigeria. He tweets at @AAbiolat on twitter and writes via paulakintunde@gmail.com

Nigeria Politics has not grown to the level that can withstand the kind of diplomacy Buhari is playing

I am patiently waiting for people to come and respond.

Sure, the diplomacy PMB is playing may land him where he ought not to have landed.

PMB better speak up now before he speaks too late

It was obvious that the NASS will not tolerate the intrusion and dictates of the APC.

But they fail to take notice of this earlier in order to take a decision or reach compromise. They we overtaken with 'joy' for winning the battle.

Now that the have conquered the 'enemies' and an 'enemy' within arose, guess what will befall them.

Maybe change has another meaning

God would see us through...ANYbody but Saraki and Ndume...you cant have persons of questionable characters and attitude be entrusted to such position of NASS..it shows how PDP loves corruption and impunity..supporting Saraki...i dont even mind if ekweremadu is the SP...so far,he is CLEAN and wont block any corruption case in NASS

Truly, with the development we are now seeing, it is almost safe to say the Saraki caucus is an enemy within

At risk or doesn't exist?

This mumu OP is asking for a democratic dictator.
See as confusion take full for APC

Change has been promised, whether it is 4 real or not, we don't know. And I'm afraid we may never get to know with these developments.

journerman:
Nigeria Politics has not grown to the level that can withstand the kind of diplomacy Buhari is playing

says who,you ba?

Cofactor:
Sure, the diplomacy PMB is playing may land him where he ought not to have landed.

where be that, dignityville?

likata:
PMB better speak up now before he speaks too late

as long as they all have efcc file it can never be too late

psucc:
It was obvious that the NASS will not tolerate the intrusion and dictates of the APC.

But they fail to take notice of this earlier in order to take a decision or reach compromise. They we overtaken with 'joy' for winning the battle.

Now that the have conquered the 'enemies' and an 'enemy' within arose, guess what will befall them.

before nko,let the games begin

LouisVanGaal:
God would see us through...ANYbody but Saraki and Ndume...you cant have persons of questionable characters and attitude be entrusted to such position of NASS..it shows how PDP loves corruption and impunity..supporting Saraki...i dont even mind if ekweremadu is the SP...so far,he is CLEAN and wont block any corruption case in NASS

apart from shehu sani who is not a ranking senator,who is clean among them,abeg allow them settle themselves once and for all,all this patch patch we have benn doing is not working

Cofactor:
Truly, with the development we are now seeing, it is almost safe to say the Saraki caucus is an enemy within

o so you're just waking up to the realisation? we knew sincce the day he defected but needed his votes to get pdp out,abi una hear fem from jagaban froggy

mikolo80:
apart from shehu sani who is not a ranking senator,who is clean among them,abeg allow them settle themselves once and for all,all this patch patch we have benn doing is not working

Clean i meant dia is in form of 'corruption case' and not holiness oga...what's the case against Ahmed lawan for a start?

LouisVanGaal:
Clean i meant dia is in form of 'corruption case' and not holiness oga...what's the case against Ahmed lawan for a start?

you really want efcc to go there? So for your mind anybody that efcc has not engaged is clean ba.na politician o.4 term politician

Democratic dictator or not, I'm less concerned as far as we are developing as a nation. Even in the great democracies like USA; there HoS are always democratic dictator. Explain the crackdown on protesters, foreign interference and invasions all in the name of peace.

quid:
This mumu OP is asking for a democratic dictator.
See as confusion take full for APC

LouisVanGaal:
God would see us through...ANYbody but Saraki and Ndume...you cant have persons of questionable characters and attitude be entrusted to such position of NASS..it shows how PDP loves corruption and impunity..supporting Saraki...i dont even mind if ekweremadu is the SP...so far,he is CLEAN and wont block any corruption case in NASS

Lol... APC need to get their acts right and ammend things quickly... Too much stake is involved

@Cofactor

You are just saving face for APC and Buhari.

How can you claim they are neutral when the President himself was scheduled to meet with APC lawmakers before the Saraki and Dogara coup happened.

The party even sent a letter mandating the NASS to name it's appointees as NASS leaders

mikolo80:
where be that, dignityville?

Anywhere but complete control over his government

Bugatie:
@Cofactor

You are just saving face for APC and Buhari.

How can you claim they are neutral when the President himself was scheduled to meet with APC lawmakers before the Saraki and Dogara coup happened.

The party even sent a letter mandating the NASS to name it's appointees as NASS leaders

I'm not saving face for APC and Buhari my friend. It's normal for the party to be the one to dictate who should be who and when the who will be the who. What is not normal is for party stalwarts to disobey the party and call for #OpenNASS. This is just the beginning of undermining the government and the party.

mikolo80:
apart from shehu sani who is not a ranking senator,who is clean among them,abeg allow them settle themselves once and for all,all this patch patch we have benn doing is not working

Everyone is a thief but the real thief is the one caught. Now, the EFCC is under Buhari's control. The question is; will it wield it as a weapon for good governance or not?

mikolo80:
o so you're just waking up to the realisation? we knew sincce the day he defected but needed his votes to get pdp out,abi una hear fem from jagaban froggy

Jagaban is strategising, no need to talk... We will only see the fruits of such strategy

Serious governments around the world work with the opposition to move their country forward.

Saraki or No Saraki, APC does not control 2/3 majority in the Senate and would have had to broker deals and win votes from PDP legislators in order to get bills passed. Considering this reality then I am at loss why why APC can not understand the brilliance of what Saraki and Dogara have done here.

The Saraki arrangement with Ekweremadu creates the perfect scenario for APC to get bills passed smoothly. If this is about the interest of the Nigerian people then I think APC would have realised this.

The politics of who is up vs who is down being displayed by the APC is very disgraceful!

mikeansy:
Serious governments around the world work with the opposition to move their country forward.

Saraki or No Saraki, APC does not control 2/3 majority in the Senate and would have had to broker deals and win votes from PDP legislators in order to get bills passed. Considering this reality then I am at loss why why APC can not understand the brilliance of what Saraki and Dogara have done here.

The Saraki arrangement with Ekweremadu creates the perfect scenario for APC to get bills passed smoothly. If this is about the interest of the Nigerian people then I think APC would have realised this.

The politics of who is up vs who is down being displayed by the APC is very disgraceful!

This will be true if our politicians irrespective of their party truly represents the interests of Nigerians. APC emerges as the ruling party because they promise to change the status quo from pro-political/capital class to pro-Nigerians, hence, Saraki unholy alliance with the PDP could eventually become the clog to the wheel of APC government.

Cofactor:
This will be true if our politicians irrespective of their party truly represents the interests of Nigerians. APC emerges as the ruling party because they promise to change the status quo from pro-political/capital class to pro-Nigerians, hence, Saraki unholy alliance with the PDP could eventually become the clog to the wheel of APC government.

There is no evidence that APC politicians are better than PDP

Remember APC do not have 2/3 majority in NASS. The seeds of discord APC are planting can only lead to legislative logjam

The alliance between Saraki and Ekweremadu is very strategic and can help the smooth passage of bills.

The rebellion by APC to the alliance is quite frankly naive!

Cofactor:
Democratic dictator or not, I'm less concerned as far as we are developing as a nation. Even in the great democracies like USA; there HoS are always democratic dictator. Explain the crackdown on protesters, foreign interference and invasions all in the name of peace.

Nigeria is a democracy. Not some totalitarian state pretending to have representative govt