ABUJA – The Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Alhaji Suleiman Ajadi, on Friday in Abuja attributed the delay by the President in assenting to some Bills to due diligence.
Ajadi told the News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) that it would be out of place for Mr President to append his signature to bills without proper scrutiny.
“It will not be proper for the president to sign bills presented to him without scrutinising them,” he said.
Ajadi said that some of the bills passed by the National Assembly did not emanate from the presidency and as such, the President needed time to look at them before signing them into law.
“There may be clauses in some of the bills that are detrimental to the country; in such cases, he has to study it before assenting to it,” he said.
He said that it was pertinent for the president to always look at the benefit the country would derive from the passage of some bills.
Bills awaiting the assent of the president are, Occupational Safety and Health Bill, Court of Appeal (Amendment) Bill, Act Authentication Act (Amendment) Bill 2012.
Others are Retirement Age of Staff of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Bill 2012, Federal High Court Act 2005(Amendment) Bill 2012 and the State of the Nation Address Bill.
Ajadi urged the National Assembly members to do only those things that would promote peace and unity of the country.
“The only way to protect the sovereignty of the country is to work towards her national interest; that will guarantee the welfare of Nigerians,” he said.
He said that the relationship between the Presidency and the National Assembly was not as bad as had being painted by members of the public.
“The relationship between the National Assembly and Mr President is not as bad as outsiders and the media portray it,” he said.
Ajadi stressed that disagreement between the three arms of government was not unexpected because, they were bound to look at issues from different perspectives.
The special Adviser said that since assumption of office, he has enjoyed the cooperation of members of the National Assembly.
“Since I came in as the Special Adviser, there has been relative peace and tranquility,” he said.
“I am always in support of anything that has to do with national interest, not minding whether it emanates from the presidency or national Assembly,” he said.(NAN)
