Legislators from the two chambers of the National Assembly rose from a three hours joint session held behind closed doors on Tuesday, giving the Executive arm of government some conditions to meet.
Failure to meet the conditions, the legislators said, would attract the invocation of the Constitutional Powers of the Parliament.
The closed-door joint session was held at the House of Representatives’ chamber with Senate President, Bukola Saraki, presiding.
Also with him at the helm of affairs at the session was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.
Top on the list of demands, were the need for the Executive arm of government to urgently address the state of insecurity in the country in order to safeguard lives and property.
Also, the Legislature expressed dismay over alleged harassment of legislators and other political actors believed to have contrary opinions to those of the Executive arm of government.
Besides, the Legislature demanded for sincerity in the fight against corruption, saying that there should be no discrimination.
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While the legislators passed a vote of confidence on the leadership of the National Assembly, they restated their vote of no confidence on the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.
According to them, Idris had no regard for constitutional authorities of both the Executive and the Legislature.
The conditions the Legislature wants the Executive to meet include that:
The security agencies must be given marching orders to contain all the sustained killings of Nigerians and protect the lives and properties of Nigerians — as this is the primary duty for any responsible government.
The systemic harassment by the executive of perceived political opponents — people with contrary opinions in the legislature and the judiciary — by the police and other security agencies must stop.
There must be strict adherence to the rule of law and protection for all citizens by the President and all his appointees.
The President must be held accountable for the actions of his appointees and must be ready to sanction those that carry out any act that will ridicule or endanger the country and our democracy.
The government should show sincerity in the fight against corruption by not being selective and also prosecute current appointees that have cases pending against them.
The sanctity of the National Assembly should be protected and preserved by the federal government… and prosecute those who invaded the Senate to seize the mace.
Democratic elections must be competitive and inclusive by removing the current reign of fear and intimidation — particularly as we approach the forthcoming 2019 elections.
The President must take immediate steps to curtail the growing level of poverty and unemployment in Nigeria — especially now that we have an advantage of high oil prices.
Also, the National Assembly said that it would liaise with the international community through the IPU, the APU, ECOWAS Parliament, Pan-African Parliament, EU, US Congress and the United Nations to secure Nigeria’s democracy.
It promised to also work with civil society organisations, trade unions and NGOs to further deepen and protect Nigeria’s democracy.
