Emir Of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has criticised the National Assembly for failing to enforce the country’s borrowing laws, accusing lawmakers of abandoning their constitutional oversight role and allowing the executive to violate fiscal rules without consequence.
Sanusi said the legislature, which enacted the law limiting government borrowing from the CBN, failed to hold the executive accountable when the provision was repeatedly breached, arguing that the lapse reflected the weakness of Nigeria’s institutions.
“The law said you cannot lend more than 5% of last year’s revenue. That law was broken with impunity. Where was the National Assembly?… And all of a sudden, for eight years, the National Assembly was silent.”
The Emir argued that a legislature that cannot independently scrutinise the executive ceases to function as a genuine arm of government.
“The executive is simply an arm of the executive, not an interdependent branch of government. Other legislatures are supposed to make laws, laws that are supposed to check and balance the executive. If the legislature cannot stand up to the executive, and it is an arm of the executive, that is not a strong legislature.”
Drawing a comparison with his tenure as CBN governor, Sanusi said lawmakers aggressively scrutinised him over routine issues but failed to exercise the same oversight when the government’s borrowing exceeded legal limits.
“I was called before the National Assembly more than 20 times on every small matter. Central bank, central character. What will you do with this one? I was called and harassed and disturbed. And all of a sudden, for eight years, the National Assembly was silent.”
He maintained that stronger institutions and consistent oversight could have prevented Nigeria’s current economic challenges, stressing that the responsibility for enforcing the law rested with the legislature.
“So this is about institutions. An institution. The legislature was supposed to pass the law to make sure that that law was being complied with. If we had that pressure from the legislature, pressure from economists, pressure from international analysts, it would have been very difficult for us to be where we are.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
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