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Legislators are not elected to fight executive – Taraba Speaker


The Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Abel Peter Diah, has said legislators are not elected to fight the executive arm of government but to make laws and check the executive excesses.

Diah, who doubles as the Deputy Chairman of Nigeria Conference of Speakers, spoke during a mock plenary with students of Public Administration at the Taraba State University, Jalingo, held at the Assembly chamber.

The sitting was without a mace and the speaker did not sit in his original seat.

There were few other members of the House at the mock plenary.

Apparently reacting to the frosty relationship between the National Assembly and the Federal Government, Diah said: “They (lawmakers) are not supposed to rundown the government. They should nurture a symbiotic relationship with the executive that is beneficial to the people they represent.

“There are number of functions, including oversight functions, for Assembly members. But the paramount function for a parliamentarian is to, after deliberations in the chamber, lobby for the executive to award important projects in your constituency.

“Assembly members are not elected to fight the executive but to make good laws for good governance and check the excesses of the executive arm.”

The Taraba Speaker noted that disputes between the legislature and the executive often reduce productivity.