Rubber Stamp Assembly: We are simply doing our jobs — Suswam reacts

Former Governor of Benue State, Senator Gabriel Suswan who chairs the Senate Committee on Power, has said in an interview with Daily Sun, that the National Assembly is not a rubber stamp assembly because they were not elected to join issues with the Buhari administration, but to do what will have positive impact on the country.

Suswam also said, if the house fails to work with the current government, it's the masses that will suffer.


Responding to question on whether or not he is bothered that the current National Assembly is often described as rubber stamp, he said, "Well, I wouldn’t say that the current Senate is rubber stamp.

"The leadership of the National Assembly decided that unlike what happened previously, we are all elected whether on the executive side or legislative side, with a common objective which is to serve Nigerians. And the only way that can be feasible is for us to cooperate among ourselves even though the doctrine of separation of power exists.



"That doctrine of separation of power in principle presumes that there will be inter-independence. It’s not that you can take actions that are totally opposed to the other. We have to collaborate for us to move forward. And so I think what the Senate has done, given the experience of Nigerians in the previous Senate when nothing was working – budget was not passed and even if it was passed, it was passed mid-year.




"So, it was impossible for any activity of government to continue. So, we said let us depart from that. That doesn’t make us rubber stamp. We just feel that we should cooperate. Yes, the PDP is an opposition party. You know in a Presidential democracy, you don’t have opposition parties.

"What you have is minority parties. And so, the minority can have their say, but the majority will have their way. So, we are overwhelmed in terms of numbers. When we look at issues that will impact positively on the country, of course, we support.



"Take the issue of the loan, for instance. Given the global economic contraction, there’s no country that is not borrowing. America which has the healthiest economy in the world has borrowed the most.

"So, yes borrowing down the road becomes a problem because generations yet unborn are going to confront it. But then, if we die now, there will be no generation for tomorrow. So, borrowing, provided it is applied judiciously can pay back itself.


"It is when it is misapplied or misappropriated that it becomes a problem. So, we approved the loan not because we are rubber stamp, but because if you look at our economy, if we don’t borrow what will happen. And so I think that it doesn’t make us rubber stamp; we are just facing the reality of our current situation."