The National Assembly and the Presidency may be headed for a face off if utmost care is not taken.
The National Assembly and the executive arm represented by Festus Keyamo, Ministet of State of Labour and Employment have clashed over a new scheme which would create jobs for teeming unemployed Nigerians.
President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday ordered the Minister of State to proceed with the scheme which would engage 774,000 Nigerians, particularly youths.
The iissue of how the implementation of the scheme would be handled had been at the centre of the disagreement, with the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmed Lawan, vowing Keyamo would come nowhere close to the programme.
He had said when a delegation led by Senator Chris Ngige paid a courtesy visit on him that he hoped the National Assembly and the executive arm would remain on the same page in the face what he saw as the intransigence of the junior Minister.
Prior to the declaration of the President of the Senate, Keyamo had refused to participate in a closed door meeting with members of a joint committee of both houses, preferring instead to have the discussions in public.
The Minister had been infuriated by certain allegations made in the open by lawmakers which he noted, where supposed to receive answers in the presence of the press.
During the shouting match which ensued, keyamo similarly insisted he would not surrender the control of the programme under his belt to the National Assembly except the President directs otherwise.
Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari who may have benefited from sound legal advice asked the Minister of State to get on with the assignment.
As at the time of filing this report, there were angry reactions in certain quarters of the National Assembly
Some Senators and House members are reportedly miffed by the decision to set aside their position on the management of the scheme.
There are however others who are of the opinion that the National Assembly may have overreacted when it went beyond matters of appropriation to say it had a right to make inputs on the issue of who would run the programme.
For now, Festus Keyamo, an activist and no nonsense lawyer has prevailed over the National Assembly, given the backing of the President.
Recall that after the senior Minister, Chris Ngige apologised to the President of the Senate, keyamo had told the press that whatever review intended by the National Assembly would come back to his table.
Following the President’s comment on the matter, the executive arm has reaffirmed that the control of the scheme which has raised controversy is purely an executive function.