Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, representing Abia South senatorial district, has said the National Assembly under Senate President Godswill Akpabio is failing to effectively question the administration of President Bola Tinubu because of what he described as “state capture.”
Abaribe stated this while responding to questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday.
The senator was asked why lawmakers who approved key government policies, budgets and nominations now criticise the same administration.
In his response, Abaribe said approval of executive requests by the National Assembly does not automatically mean that all lawmakers agree with such decisions.
Abaribe argued that the broader problem is what he termed “state capture,” where the legislature and other arms of government have become subservient to the executive.
He maintained that despite the prevailing situation, some lawmakers continue to oppose policies and actions they believe are wrong.
Abaribe said: “I’m a senator of the Federal Republic. I represent my constituency, and you bring your document to me, and I say I don’t agree with this document, and I have some colleagues who say they agree. What do you want me to do? That is the decision of the National Assembly. It does not necessarily mean that I agree.
“As I said here in front of you, nobody has controverted me till Today, and I said that when the President went to buy another plane that it was never brought to the National Assembly. Is that not what I said? Was it brought? It wasn’t. So there are too many things going on in this government.
“The Minister of Works was integorated about a signature project of the administration. Was there a competitive bidding? Was there any EOI done? Thet went ahead and they’re doing it and all that.
“The point really is simple, and we have to face that fact there is state capture. What is state capture? It is when all the different arms of government are now subservient to the executive. That is exactly where we are. So it does not mean some of us are not saying, no, this is wrong.”
