Governance: Executive, Legislative Synergy’ll Drive Nigeria’s Progress -Wike

The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike has declared that if the Executive and Legislative Arms of Government carry out their official responsibilities in line with the Constitution, Nigeria would make tremendous progress.
Speaking during a special banquet in honour of the retiring President of Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa at Government House, Port Harcourt, last Friday night, Wike reiterated that the Judiciary remains the most outstanding arm of government in the country.
Wike said: “This country is having challenges because of the Executive and Legislative Arms of Government. If the Executive and Legislative arms do what is right, the country would move forward.
“The National Assembly because of politics fails to do what is right. When the Executive and Legislative Arms of Government commit errors, they pass the buck to the Judiciary.”
He said even when the 8th National Assembly passed the Electoral Act that recognised the Card Reader, the President refused to give his assent.
He noted that the forthcoming constitutional amendment kick-started by the National Assembly would amount to nothing just like the previous exercises.
“Every time, there is always a constitutional amendment, but at the end nothing comes out of it. Even the one just started will not yield anything different”, he said.
Wike maintained that the Judiciary was the least corrupt of the three arms of government, adding that the Judiciary has remained consistent in the interpretation of laws to the advantage of the country.
He said that the nation’s democracy was still thriving because of the positive roles and influence of the Judiciary.
“Without the Judiciary, there will be no democracy in this country. This country’s democracy is being sustained by the Judiciary”, he said.
In her remarks, the retiring President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa said that she was in Rivers State as part of her valedictory process, explaining that the valedictory process was a tradition of the Court of Appeal.
She emphasised that she was in Asaba, Awka, Enugu, where she held her first valedictory session and would be visiting Kano, Gombe, Yola and Ilorin as part of the retirement process, while it would end in Abuja.