A former Kaduna senator and pro-democracy activist, Shehu Sani, says Nigerian citizens must do their bits for the legislature to be vibrant and make good laws for the country.
Sani stated this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.
He said even though ‘godfathers and mafias’ were presently in control of the activities of some of the major political parties in Nigeria, voters could still swell their support for popular candidates and sweep the polls.
Sani, an activist-turned-politician, berated opposition political parties and civil society organisations for not doing enough to strengthen democratic rules in the country.
“Vibrant opposition in the legislature helps to put the ruling party on its toes. Again, the civil society organisations should be active to make sure that the right things are done.
“You can’t have a vibrant National Assembly when most of the people who are there are agents of some certain powerful people who put them there as puppets,” he said.
Sani blamed the crises rocking both Lagos and Rivers Houses of Assembly on the involvement of godfathers in the electoral fortunes of the lawmakers.
“There is nobody in Lagos Assembly and Rivers State House of Assembly who became a member of that assembly without a certain power supporting him.
“ So, when you see a battle in the state assembly, it’s a battle of the godfathers outside of the assembly.
“Most of the lawmakers are simply physically representing those forces. So, it’s like the known being teleguided by the unknown or the visible being teleguided by the invisible,” he said.
Sani noted that only very few, indeed, less than two per cent, were in the parliament because of their own credibility, integrity and love for the masses.
“When you find out that most of the people who are in the parliament, whether at state or federal level, are people in this first category, they will not be able to stand up to challenge issues because they knew where they came from,” he said.
According to him, the calibre of lawmakers at both national and state houses of assembly is key to entrenching democracy due to the roles of the arm of government.
“‘it is a serious problem for democracy because if you look at parliaments in other parts of the world, developed democracy like India and the United States, you see lawmakers serving for 40 years, 30 years, yet people still elect them into offices.
“If you are a senator and you are fond of standing up to speak to powers, you will hardly come back to the national assembly in Nigeria.
“So, if you want to be in the national assembly, if you look at the nature of those who are there, they are always compliant with everything done by their governors,” he said.
(NAN)
