… To compel President to deliver “State of the Nation” address every June 12.
If all goes according to plan, the National Assembly may dump the traditional Eagle Square in Abuja to swear in Nigeria’s next president. Already, plans are underfoot for a bill to inaugurate Nigeria’s presidents at the National Assembly instead of the Eagle Square.
If their plans succeed, Nigeria may be joining countries like South Africa, India, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, and others who swear in their presidents in their parliaments. In South Africa, the president is elected by the National Assembly, so the swearing-in is closely tied to parliamentary procedures.
In India, although the president has a largely ceremonial role, the ceremony is held in Parliament to underscore his strategic importance in the country’s constitutional framework.
Apart from saving the country the humongous costs associated with past Eagle Square inaugurations, constitutional experts believe that swearing in the president at the legislature underscores constitutional legitimacy and affirms the legislature’s critical role in ensuring checks and balances.
But in the case of Nigeria, which operates a purely presidential system of government, there may be a few reservations because most parliamentary inaugurations happen in purely parliamentary systems or hybrid governments.
Regardless of those reservations, Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, informed the media yesterday of plans to initiate a bill to ensure that Presidents-elect are sworn in the arcade of the National Assembly.
Bamidele said that the legislation was part of efforts to strengthen the country’s democracy.
According to him, the parliament also intends to initiate another legislation for the President to deliver the ‘State of the Nation Address’ in the National Assembly on June 12 annually.
The National Assembly had invited President Bola Tinubu to address a joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Thursday to mark the 2025 National Democracy Day.
Bamidele said: “It is our desire to institutionalise the State of the Nation Address. We will bring a bill to address it, to ensure that it is institutionalised. People should look forward to it.
“President Tinubu is working with the National Assembly in that regard. June 12 will be a better time for the President to address the nation through the National Assembly.
“There is no better day than June 12 for the President to address the nation, because of its historical significance. It is a joint sitting of the National Assembly. Nigerians should look forward to this legislative initiative.
“We are also hoping to change our political setting to the extent that the swearing-in of the next President will, by the grace of God, be in the arcade of the National Assembly of Nigeria.”
Democracy Day is observed in Nigeria every June 12, in honour of Late Chief MKO Abiola, the winner of the 1993 Presidential election.
The 1993 election is adjudged as the freest, fairest and most credible election in Nigeria’s political history.