A spokesperson for the Labour Party presidential campaign council during the last election, Kenneth Okonkwo, has expressed his concern over the perceived lack of separation of power between the executive and the 10th National Assembly in Nigeria.
Speaking in an interview with AIT, Okonkwo characterized the 10th assembly as a mere replica of the executive, emphasizing that in his view, they are even worse than the 9th assembly.
He argued that instead of addressing the alleged abuse of power by the executive, opposition parties were preoccupied with vying for positions within the National Assembly.
The veteran actor-turned-politician specifically pointed to President Bola Tinubu’s announcement of the removal of fuel subsidy scheduled for May 29, 2023, as an example of this perceived abuse of power, highlighting that there is an existing law that opposes such a move.
“I am of the opinion that the opposition has failed and failed woefully in Nigeria. They started failing on May 29, 2023,” he said. “A president, in his inaugural speech, committed an abuse of power and I’m talking about the removal of fuel subsidies.”
“There was already a law, PIA, that says the subsidy cannot go until the end of June. It is a law. The job of the president is to execute, administer and implement the law.
“The opposition should have immediately screamed. This is not a dictatorship. You were not elected to impose your will.
“There is a law already existing. You cannot even mention it. They were busy struggling for posts in the National Assembly. And then, the same person came out and chose a leader for you.
“And none of them could scream. Today, the National Assembly is the photocopy of the executive. We used to say that Senator Lawan was a rubber stamp but now we have a photocopy,” Okonkwo elaborated.
