By Kolawole Ojebisi
Former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, has lauded the past National Assembly for the assertiveness displayed in the discharge of its legislative duties, saying that the legislature lived up to its billing.
Jonathan maintained that the legislature in the past was capable of overriding presidential vetoes on important bills, recounting how the National Assembly stood up to former President Olusegun Obasanjo to ensure the establishment of Niger Delta Development Commission during his reign.
The former Nigeria’s helmsman spoke on Wednesday evening at the Champions of Nigerian Content Awards Dinner, organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Jonathan was honoured with the Nigerian Content Lifetime Achievement Award at the event.
“In 2000, the NDDC bill was also vetoed by the National Assembly. They overrode President Obasanjo’s refusal. Typically, in other countries, it is the President who vetoes bills.
“But in Nigeria, during the law-making process, it is the National Assembly that can exercise the veto. If the President does not assent to a bill within 30 days, the National Assembly can reconvene and, with a two-thirds majority calculated by headcount, not voice vote—enact the bill into law.
“That is how the NDDC Act came into being, thanks to a truly vibrant National Assembly”, he said.
Speaking further on the relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government during his tenure, Jonathan recalled his eagerness to sign the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Bill into law.
He noted that the bill, sponsored by Senator Lee Maeba of Rivers State and others, was a product of a truly dynamic legislature.
“When I was acting President in 2010, and the National Assembly presented the bill, I promptly signed it and we quickly established a monitoring body. Someone like Lee Maeba, the bill’s originator, and his group also deserve recognition. That was a period when the National Assembly truly lived up to its name,” Jonathan said.
“I would like to use this opportunity to commend Lee Maeba and his team,” Jonathan concluded.
