In Nigeria’s modern history, the concept of cooperation among tiers and arms of government has been severely misunderstood, leading to unnecessary acrimonious relationship between various arms of government. Over the years, this has, many times, stifled the wheels of governance. Consequently, this sad state of affairs has deprived Nigeria and Nigerians of the much needed development and dividends of democracy.
But luckily, in every cloud there is a Silva lining, which in this case is personified in the person of President Muhammadu Buhari. Since he assumed office in 2015, Buhari took the bull by the horns in a bid to change that narrative. There is a congruence of opinion among keen observers if the governance process that he has successfully navigated the relationship pattern between different arms of government and the component states of the federation from the hitherto rancorous, acrimonious and bitter exchanges to cooperative and interdependent pattern of governance.
The greatest beneficiary of the new order are Nigerians because the essence of governance is better life for the citizens, and when governance assumes a ‘personality show,’ development suffers and by extension, the people.
To get the issues of governance right, what Nigerians need is cooperation between state governors and the government at the centre, and not the usual combative or confrontation. President Buhari is aware of the huge benefits of a flexible relationship between the federal and state governments in which they work together on a variety of issues and programmes. He has demonstrated maturity by choosing to cooperate with the other arms of governments and component of the federation.
A good example of this cordial relationship can be seen in the swift manner in which the Buhari-led government handled the invasion of the residence of Supreme Court Justice, Mary Peter-Odili. The federal government ensured no harm was done to her. Additionally, those involved in the alleged attack were arrested and charged to court. If it were under previous governments, the issue will be swept under the carpet and nothing will happen.
Also, during the signing of the 2022 appropriation bill into law, the National Assembly made what President Buhari described as ‘worrisome changes’ by injecting too many projects into the budget. While working on the 2022 appropriation bill sent by the president the lawmakers injected 6,576 new projects, amounting to N37 billion. Despite that, the president went ahead to sign it, citing the need to maintain and even nurture the existing cordial relations between the legislative arm and the executive.
The good thing is that the relationship accords mutual respect whereby and none of the parties is taking the benevolence of the other as a sign of weaknesses. Rather, they see it as a deliberate and coordinated attempt at making Nigeria work. What President Buhari has demonstrated in clear terms is that contrary to assumption that the role of the legislature is to oppose government, the legislature, just like the Judiciary, is to work in a complimentary manner with the executive arm.
The beneficiary of constructive engagement and cooperation is the nation. One of the achievements is that we now have a budget that runs from January to December and Mr President has just signed the finance bill and budget for 2022.
Also, President Buhari has succeeded in stabilising emotions and constant friction between state governors and the president. It is a great departure from what it was under previous administrations where the federal government worked against the stability of the states. Stakeholders have roundly applauded Buhari for transforming the relationship between the federal government and state governments from one hitherto marked by constant acrimony and vindictiveness to one that encourages mutual support and collaboration.
We should not forget in a hurry that the years preceding 2015 were marked by unnecessary and debilitating tensions between national and subnational governments in Nigeria, often on the basis of personal and partisan differences between senior officials. One of such striking cases was the withholding of Lagos State local government funds by the federal government from 2004 onwards, in spite of a Supreme Court judgement to the contrary.
The constant impeachments and attempted impeachments of state governors considered to be opposed to federal government was engineered from the highest level of government between 1999 and 2007. We also saw the splitting of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum following the 2013 chairmanship elections that threw up a winner who was not the favoured candidate of the powers that be.
Before the Buhari administration, Nigerians witnessed the suspension of meetings by the National Economic Council (NEC), following unresolved tensions relating to the management of Federation finances. There was also the stalling of the NLNG Train 7 project between 2011 and 2015 because of a desire to promote another project sited in a more favoured state.
President Buhari has been elected twice on the platform of the APC, but he has consistently demonstrated that he is a leader for all Nigerians, regardless of political or regional affiliation. All of the administration’s policies and programmes have been made available for all state governments to take advantage of and benefit from for the benefit of the Nigerian people.
The bailout programmess of the federal government, including more than N600 billion in budget support and N575 billion in commercial loans restructuring, that helped the states through the recession of 2016 and its immediate aftermath were extended to all interested states in the country irrespective of partisan differences.
President Buhari has variously approved trillions of Naira in vital refunds to state governments since 2015. These include more than $5 billion in Paris Club Refunds owed since 2006, and N700 billion in refunds for construction work carried out by state governments on federal roads. In the case of the latter, the highest benefiting state was Rivers State, receiving more than 10 per cent of the entire amount disbursed to all the states.
That these actions can now be taken for granted demonstrates just how much President Buhari has done to restore normalcy to the dealings between the tiers of government. Governors have often testified to the support they have received from the president and his administration, and his willingness to listen to them and find ways to help them achieve their governance agendas for their states.
The cumulative effect of all these is the outcome of what transpired on Thursday in Kaduna State. Buhari gave the state governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, a pat on the back for committing himself to transforming the state with meaningful projects. The president who was on a two-day working visit to the state to commission some of the state’s urban renewal projects confessed that he could no longer find his way around the state even as someone who has lived in the city for long.
An instance where President Buhari has demonstrated non-partisanship in governance was during the tension in Benue State security some time last year. The president gave marching orders to the Inspector General of Police to relocate to Benue State, even though he had been unfairly criticized by the governor of that state. The same thing happened Rivers, another PDP state. Despite being maligned by the state governor, Buhari paid a visit to the South South State to commission projects.
The lessons from the new order of cooperation between the executive, governors and the National Assembly is that politicians across board must learn to arrive and achieve and sustain consensus on issues. We must learn to prioritise the interest of Nigeria in order to build and sustain a consensus on certain fundamental issues about our country. Examples have indicated that democratic countries elsewhere that are successful were largely built on these kinds of consensus.
Without any pinch of a doubt, President Buhari has set a new standard for national-subnational government relations. He has put a stop to toxic actions and attitudes of the past and restored normalcy, and we expect that all succeeding administrations will toe his path and ensure that Nigeria never returns to the dark days of unnecessary animosity and poisonous relations with elected governors.
– Ibrahim is director, Communications and Strategic Planning, of the Presidential Support Committee (PSC).
