Abuja – The Senate President, Sen. David Mark said on Wednesday that disagreements between the executive and legislative arms of government were necessary ingredients for the strengthening of democratic governance.
Se. Mark stated this in a remark at the opening of the national conference on Executive-Legislature Relations in Abuja.
He noted that the only difference between the two arms of government had to do with their perception of issues.
“The National Assembly and the Executive are on the same wavelength. The only difference is that sometimes we see things from different perspectives and the emphasis are different.
“So it is this minor difference that occasionally gives an impression that there is friction.
“But I also dare to say that this friction is necessary for democracy to survive because if you allow excess power in one direction, we all know the result.
“There will be tyranny. There will be misuse of power. There will be abuse of power.
“So the checks and balances as provided in the constitution is appropriate and it ought to be there and it should be observed by all parties.’’
Sen. Mark said greater collaboration between the two arms of government would ensure the provision of good governance for the benefit of the people.
“I would say that what we need is collaboration and not competition. There is no competition between the National Assembly and the Executive.
“But we need to collaborate to make sure that we deliver on the dividends of democracy. We parliamentarians pride ourselves as the heart of democracy.
“Once a decision is reached in the parliament, it is the consensus of the party in government and the party that is not in government.
“But with all due respect, I want to say that when a decision is reached in the Executive, it is the decision of the party in government, whereas that of the parliament, everybody who is involved has the mandate of his people and they come with different views and different ideas.
“Once they are collated, they represent the overall interest of the nation. The Executive also has the same mandate; their views represent the overall interest of the nation, but viewed from just one perspective, of the Executive.’’
The senate president gave the assurance that the legislature would strive at all times to live up to the expectations of Nigerians by pursuing legislative actions that would move the nation forward.
The two-day conference with the theme: “Strengthening Executive-Legislature Collaboration in Governance’’, was organised by the Office of the Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters. (NAN)
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