In order to obstruct the process of checks and balances from the other arms of government assigned by law to do so, the executive arm headed by governors and Presidents tend to sponsor the election of legislators at various levels. Such people tend to report to the heads of the executive and are at their whims and caprices. When a President is allowed to appoint political officers or influence the appointment of officers and positions, such appointees will be at their beck and call. This is why federal and state legislators usually follow the dictates of the President and Governors instead of checking on them as defined by the law. This has never helped achieve the dividends of democracy. To avoid dictatorship, the legislative and judicial arms must be totally separated from each other in functions. And the legislators must understand that, like the President and Governors, once they are elected, they become accounted to the people and not to their political parties. They should not be Presidents and Governors of their political parties, tribes or religion but the President of the whole country and Governor of the whole state. There should not be any dichotomy between those that belong to their party and not. The state property does not belong to any political party and should not be used by them at any level. When political parties sponsor their candidates in elections, the elected officers are not expected to be funding their political parties in return with public money. It is stealing.
During every election, and bearing these in mind, people tend to campaign according to tribal, religious, professional and party lines. Little consideration is given to efficiency, transparency, honesty and effective leadership. These are thrown to the wind as long as the candidate is from a particular tribe, religion and section. The unity of the country should be seen beyond religion, tribe, personal interests and professional groups. The quality of candidates must be beyond where he comes from, where he worships and his professional background. If the country is good, it is for the good of all. There is no special markets, jobs, education, infrastructure etc. where each tribe, religion and professional body transact business from. There are common institutions, industries, and infrastructure for all Nigerians. People share the same land, social and economic environment. And what affects one affects others.
The President and governors are not omniscient and cannot know it all. That’s why there is shared responsibility. That is why some sections of the society and agencies are independent. They are meant to guide, monitor and check the activities and excesses of others. The president and the governors are not above the law. They should not be immune to any law. Their activities should fall within the ambits of the law and any law that is created to place them above the law is anti-people.
Every time the President or Governor sees himself as above the law, he will become arrogant, autocratic and lawless. He will spend the public money without caution. He will give indiscriminate appointments. He will not tolerate opposition. He will see objections to his view as a threat. He will see his views, no matter how foolish and irresponsible as superior to other views. He will turn into a slave master instead of an elected civil servant.
When a President sees himself as the best in the society, he will create fear among the people. Everything will be done to please him and to fan his ego. For fear of challenges and to avoid checks and balances, he will cow the legislative and judicial arm. He will make the other arms look as if they are directly under his control when they should share equal power, are independent and should ensure checks and balances. The people have been given a poor orientation that the other arms of government are under the executive. The previous sets of the executive officers had strategically used state power to cow the other arms under them when in real fact, the legislative and judicial arms should have been stronger. Out of selfish interests and because many of the members of other arms came into power through the influence of the executives subject themselves to the whims and caprices of the President and governors. This made Lords out of Presidents and governors.
When they become lords, they become lawless. They are regarded as above the law, so with their families, relatives and associates. Whatever they say becomes law. They alter the existing norms through flagrant abuse of laws and order. When these are tolerated in the society, it becomes the norm and many will seek for opportunities, not to serve but to also be above the law where they can collect and share public money without the usual checks from other arms of government.
