The Nigerian Senate has pushed back against criticism that it merely serves as a rubber stamp for the Tinubu administration, insisting its actions are always in the interest of the people.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Thursday night, June 12, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, said the National Assembly is often unfairly targeted by the public.
“Like I usually say that we are the soft target of everybody, we are the most accessible by our constituents because they can’t access the executive the way they can have access to us,” he said. “So definitely, we are the first and last to them.”
Responding directly to claims of being a rubber stamp legislature, Adaramodu made a metaphorical case.
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“Again, when people say that the National Assembly is rubber stamped, I always ask the question, even when you want to do a certified true copy of any document without the rubber stamp, it’s invalid,” he said.
He added, “Even when the executive and judiciary does any process, procedure, or programme, if the rubber stamp is not there – it’s not authentic – so to that extent we rubber stamp everything that is good for Nigerians.”
Citing the Student Loan Bill as an example, he questioned whether it would be reasonable to reject a good policy just to avoid accusations of siding with the executive.
“Even if it’s not a literal rubber stamp and they brought student loans, are we saying we would not stamp it because we don’t want some people to say not in a fisticuff with the executive?” he said.