Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, the ex-special adviser on National Assembly matters to ex-president Shehu Shagari has said that President Muhammadu Buhari has no other choice than to work with the National Assembly leadership.
Yakassai affirmed that it is unsuitable for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to choose key officers for the National Assembly because party supremacy has a minute role to play in the affairs of the NASS.
He said: “Buhari has no choice but to work with the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, and it is not his business to say who would be the presiding officers that he would work with in the National Assembly.
“It is the constitutional right and responsibility of legislators to choose who should be their presiding officers.”
Former special adviser to the president explained the issue of party supremacy; noting that it cannot override the constitution.
“I think there is a mistake about the issue of party supremacy; there is an area where party supremacy works and there are also many areas where the party must not insist on its supremacy.
“Party supremacy cannot apply in current issues regarding the leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives, as such supremacy cannot override the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
Yakassai urged the ruling party to offer the zoning of the principal officers of the National Assembly.
He further stated that President Buhari’s administration needs the maximum cooperation of the main legislative arm particularly the senate to ensure longevity.
The APC had expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the National Assembly leadership election, calling it ‘treachery’.
Contrary to the party’s choice of candidates in a mock election, Bukola Saraki emerged the Senate President, while Yakubu Dogara clinched the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
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