Former Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye, has accused the leadership of the 10th National Assembly of failing to adequately check President Bola Tinubu’s exercise of executive powers, warning that weak legislative oversight could threaten democratic safeguards.
Melaye, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, made the allegation at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, where he criticised Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas over the handling of electoral reforms, constitutional matters and government spending.
He argued that the legislature appeared to be falling short of its constitutional responsibility to scrutinise presidential decisions, insisting that cooperation between the executive and legislature should not come at the expense of accountability.
“A lifetime presidency does not begin with the abolition of term limits. It begins when the institutions created to restrain a President slack in duty,” Melaye said, stressing that lawmakers must ensure that presidential powers remained within constitutional limits.
The former lawmaker cited the July 2024 amendment to the Nigeria Police Act, which enabled an Inspector-General of Police to remain in office until the end of the tenure specified in his appointment letter, despite the normal retirement rules for police personnel.
He questioned the decision to pass the amendment through all three legislative readings on the same day, arguing that the speed of the process raised concerns about whether lawmakers subjected the proposal to sufficient scrutiny.
Melaye noted that the amendment initially benefited former Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun, who had served as Tinubu’s Chief Security Officer when the President was Lagos State governor. Egbetokun left office in February 2026 and was succeeded by Olatunji Disu, who had also served as Tinubu’s aide-de-camp during his governorship.
He, however, acknowledged that the appointments alone did not establish any wrongdoing or prove that the legislative process was manipulated.
The ADC chieftain also questioned the National Assembly’s handling of the state of emergency declared in Rivers State in March 2025, particularly whether the voting process in both chambers satisfied the constitutional requirement for approval by a two-thirds majority of all lawmakers.
Turning to electoral reforms, Melaye faulted the House of Representatives over its handling of the proposed mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results under the Electoral Act 2026.
The House had approved the provision in December 2025 but reconsidered its position in February 2026, a move that reportedly triggered protests and disorder in the chamber before lawmakers went into an executive session.
“What becomes of parliamentary representation when members say ‘nay’ and the presiding officer declares ‘aye’ to please the President?” he asked, arguing that legislative decisions should reflect lawmakers’ votes rather than perceived executive preferences.
Melaye, who served as deputy director-general of Atiku Abubakar’s Presidential Campaign Council, also raised concerns about the legislature’s oversight of budget implementation and public expenditure.
He cited Service-Wide Votes allocations of about N4.08tn in 2024, N9.31tn in 2025 and N12.83tn in 2026, bringing the combined figure to approximately N26.22tn. He said the amounts warranted closer scrutiny of how public funds were released and spent.
Although he acknowledged that the Budget Office had explained that the 2026 allocation covered government obligations, including personnel expenses, recurrent costs and capital projects, Melaye maintained that such explanations did not absolve lawmakers of their duty to monitor expenditure.
Efforts to obtain a response from the Clerk of the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, were unsuccessful, as he neither answered calls nor responded to a text message seeking his reaction to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.
