I refused to interfere in NASS leadership to encourage democracy — Buhari
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President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has stated he refrained from meddling in the affairs of National Assembly to encourage democracy
This is even as he described the Ninth National Assembly led by Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila as one of the most productive in terms of output and outcome.
He stated this on Thursday at the inauguration of the permanent site of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) in Abuja.
He thanked the leadership of the National Assembly for their support.
“This Ninth Assembly will be remembered as one of the most productive in terms of output and outcome. Again, I thank the leadership of the National Assembly for giving me the support required to deliver on my promises to Nigerians,” Buhari said
Emphasising the importance of the legislature in a democracy, Buhari stated that he refrained from meddling in the affairs of the legislature to encourage an independent National Assembly.
“From the moment of my election in 2015 and subsequently, I supported the idea of an independent National Assembly, one that is able to decide its leadership and develop its agenda in line with the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“I refrained from meddling in the affairs of the legislature and instead promoted a culture of mutual respect and collaboration between the two arms,” Buhari said.
Noting that Nigeria is endowed in many ways, the President pointed out that the country’s teeming youth population remains one of its greatest assets.
Nigeria is immensely endowed in many ways, our single greatest asset is the people of this nation, our teeming youth population provides the labour force we need to industrialise and develop our economy. This underscores the need for more investment in human capacity development.”
He added that the NILDS permanent site is a critical step towards fostering the capacity of the legislature to improve its lawmaking, oversight and presentation functions.
