The Legislature and Democratic Stability

Democracy in Nigeria was not a gift but a hard-won struggle, and its survival hinges on cherishing and protecting the institutions that uphold it, former Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki declared. Speaking at the ‘Platform Nigeria’ event in Lagos, Saraki centered his address on the National Assembly, particularly the Senate, arguing it is the "load-bearing wall" of the nation's democracy.

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democracy in Nigeria was never handed to us. It was fought for. And what is fought for must be cherished, protected, and built upon, or it slips away.

Saraki began by invoking June 12, a date once deliberately omitted from national memory but now celebrated as Democracy Day. He highlighted that this day exists because ordinary Nigerians refused to let the annulled 1993 mandate die, a testament to their enduring belief in the ballot. This historical context, he asserted, underscores that Nigerian democracy was fought for and requires constant vigilance.

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the legislature, for all its imperfections and for all the ridicule it sometimes attracts, is the load-bearing wall of our democracy. Remove it, weaken it, hollow it out, and the whole structure comes down.

He then turned to the legislature, an institution he led from 2015 to 2019. Saraki countered the common misconception that power resides solely with the presidency. Instead, he explained that the constitution's framers deliberately split power among three branches, creating intentional friction. This friction, he stressed, is not dysfunction but the essence of freedom, with the legislature serving as the arm of government closest to the people and furthest from any single will.

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the greatest danger to a free people is not a weak government, but an unchecked government, power that answers to no one, authority that cannot be questioned.

Saraki outlined three key roles of the legislature: securing democratic stability, strengthening governance, and driving national development. He described the National Assembly, comprising 469 members, as a crucial check on unchecked executive power. By dispersing authority and fostering inter-branch dependence, the legislature ensures that power answers to the people and cannot be wielded arbitrarily.

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That friction is not dysfunction. That friction is freedom.