Tunde Bakare, a former presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has criticised the relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government under President Bola Tinubu....READ ORIGINAL & FULL CONTENT FROM SOURCE | READ ORIGINAL & FULL CONTENT FROM SOURCE...
Bakare, serving overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC), delivered the rebuke on Sunday during his State of the Nation address at the church auditorium in Lagos.
He said Nigeria is “steering in the wrong direction” under Tinubu’s leadership.
He said: “To the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, under whose brand of politics the institution of legislative oversight is collapsing and our democracy is faced with an existential threat, I say: Mr. President, Nigeria is too delicate for this kind of politics.
“If this state capture was what you meant by emi lo kan, it is an anti-climax that can only be counterproductive in the end.
“I urge you, Mr. President, to think deeply and reflect on these words: ‘No man is wise enough nor good enough to be trusted with unlimited power.’ Please, stop playing God!”
Bakare accused Tinubu of using his influence to compromise the independence of the National Assembly.
“Mr. President, it is through your influence that the Nigerian National Assembly has become a haven for legislative rascality,” he said.
He condemned the recent endorsement by lawmakers of the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers and the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Bakare said the legislature has now become “an extension of the executive, grossly violating the principles of separation of powers, and rubber-stamping the whims and caprices” of the presidency.
His words: “This National Assembly, the tenth, has by its unconstitutional endorsement of the president’s abuse of powers proven to be the most spineless in our recent history.
“Through its actions and inactions, the National Assembly has, in effect, become the 48th member of the president’s cabinet, while a cabinet minister has, more or less, become a third-term state governor in Rivers State, pampered by the indulgences of the president.”