How messier can this battle get?

The frosty relationship between the Red Chamber and the Executive arm of government is becoming visible to the blind and audible to the deaf. The week under review was replete with plot and counter-plot between the two arms of government to outdo each other.

With the planned trial of Senate presiding officers over alleged forgery of the standing rules and subsequent pasting of court summons on the premises of the National Assembly, the stage is now set for an epic battle between two elephants.

In an unprecedented move since the inauguration of the 8th Senate on June 9, 2015, the upper legislative chamber summoned seven top government officials within 72-hours to answer questions relating to government actions.

They include: Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) Godwin Emefiele; Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris; Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu and Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Umar Danbatta.
At plenary on Tuesday, lawmakers vowed to resist any attempt by the Executive arm of government from effecting leadership change in the Senate.
Not done yet, the Senate asked its Committee on Foreign Affairs to suspend the screening of 47 ambassadorial nominees over allegations of irregularities in the selection process and omission of five states from the list. The states include: Ondo, Taraba, Bayelsa, Ebonyi and Plateau.
But while the 44 opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators passed a vote of no confidence on President Muhammadu Buhari over his decision to prosecute the Presiding Officers of the Senate on their involvement in the forgery case, only 16 lawmakers drawn from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP) expressed support for the President.

The implication of the above scenario is that at the moment, President Buhari enjoys support of 16 out of 103 senators, as other APC senators under the aegis of Like Minds have maintained the innocence of the Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy Ike Ekweremadu. In all, there are 58 APC senators.

With Buhari having the support of 15.5percent of lawmakers, the effect of this is that executive bills and other executive communications, which had hitherto enjoyed accelerated passage, may face stiff opposition in the Red Chamber.
Also on the floor of the hallowed chamber, three bills with opposing objectives passed First Reading. They include the Grazing Reserves Bill, which seeks to establish grazing reserves and stock routes for cattle rearers in all the states of the Federation on the one hand as well as the National Ranches Commission Bill and Cattle Movement Control Bill on the other hand, which ensure the restriction of cattle to specific areas.
The controversial Grazing Bill which reappeared on Wednesday was first sponsored by Zainab Kure in the 7th Senate but was not passed into law.
The National Grazing Reserves Bill which has passed already Second Reading in the House of Representatives, has been generating ripples in the southern part of the country and some parts of the north especially against the backdrop of frequent clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers across the country which has led to killings, kidnapping and wanton destruction of properties.
Most state governors especially in the Southern states have expressed reservations about the desire of the Federal Government to forcefully acquire lands in their states for the exclusive use of the cattle rearers.
Other bills that passed First Reading include: Anti-Torture Bill, Telecommunications and Postal Offences Act (Amendment) Bill, National Crop Varieties and Livestock Breeds (Registration, etc) (Amendment) Bill, National Ranches Commission (Est., etc) Bill, Police Act (Amendment) Bill, South East Development Commission (Est., etc.) Bill and Historic Sites and Preservation Protection Bill.
Others are: National Environmental Standards Regulatory Enforcement Agency (Amendment) Bill, Independent National Electoral Commission Act (Amendment) Bill, Tertiary Education Trust Fund Act (Amendment) Bill, Integrated Community Development Agency (Est., etc.) Bill, Legal Framework for Public Private Partnership (Est., etc) Bill, Universal Basic Education Act (Amendment) Bill, Correction, Reformation and Re-integration Centre (Est., etc) Bill, Maritime University of Nigeria Oron Bill and Personal Information Protection Bill.
Furthermore, the Joint Committees on Aviation and Anti-Corruption commenced investigative hearing on the disbursement and utilisation of N500billion power and aviation intervention fund released by the Federal Government in 2011.
The committee expressed concern that the funds meant to revive the aviation sector were transferred to private accounts and diverted to purchase properties in Ghana.
The 10 airlines that benefited from the funds include: Arik Airlines, Dana Airlines, Aero Helicopters, Kabo Air, Caverton Helicopter, Overland Airways, First Nation Airways, Chanchangi Airlines, Odenegene Air and Air Nigeria.
The Senate also considered and passed for Third Reading report of the Committee on Niger Delta on the N241billion 2016 budget proposal of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC ) and report of the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND on the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun.
Report from Land and Transportation Committee on the Nigerian Railway Corporation Act 1955 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill 2016 was also presented. The clause-by-clause consideration of the bill will be considered upon resumption from its short break on July 12.