Activist and former Senator, Shehu Sani, has expressed fear that the subservient nature of the Senator Goodwill Akpabio-led National Assembly could eventually turn President Bola Ahmed Tinubu into a tyrant.

Delivering a keynote speech as part of activities to mark the National Assembly Legislative Aides Forum (NASSLAF week held on Monday in Abuja, he described the 10thAssembly as a bunch of compliant representatives lacking the willpower to live up to their responsibilities.

The Kaduna-born politician, who spoke on the theme: “Sustainable democracy and nation building”, argued that the 10thAssembly was in contrast with the Senator Bukola Saraki-led 8thAssembly that not only held the Executive Arm accountable but checkmated its excesses.

“Any person coming to us for nomination can only be approved if you deserve it. That is how the institution is supposed to be. This is not a place of always approving, stamping, sealing everything that comes from the Executive,” Sani said.

“If you do that because you love this President, a time would there would be a President you don’t love, and whatever that comes to you you take it.

“Whatever is brought before the National Assembly deserves serious attention because it is not about the senators, members of the House of Representatives, it is about Nigerians. That is why there are people who come here and spend about 20 years if you see them on the road you will not know them.

“You are not sent here to become a “rankadede” person to the Executive. You are here to do the needful. You would be remembered for what you stand for in the end.”

Acknowledging that the frosty relationship between the Saraki-led legislature and the Executive Arm came at a huge cost, he stressed the need for the sanctity of the institution of the legislature in the country.

Sani claimed that unlike what transpired in his time, the 10thNational Assembly no longer commands the respect of heads of ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) because of their subservient nature.

The former lawmaker, who made an unsuccessful bit to regain his Kaduna Central Senatorial seat in the 2019 poll, remarked that the subservient nature of the should not be seen as a surprising development as those who could muster the courage to speak truth to power were edged out during the electioneering period.

He said it is unfortunate that the National Assembly is 90 percent populated by freshers with little or no experience of the nitty-gritty of the art law-making and exercise of oversight functions.

Sani reminded the lawmakers that posterity would judge them for their conduct while exercising their oversight duties in the National Assembly.

He described legislative aides as the unseen forces with the responsibility of helping lawmakers make laws for the good of the country. (The Guardian)