On Tuesday 9th June 2015, the social media was heated following the results of the elections conducted by the members of the Nigeria's National Assembly to select their leaders. The results of the elections returned Bukola Saraki of Kwara Central Senatorial District and Yakubu Dogara of Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa-Balewa Federal constituency of Bauchi State as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively. The elections also returned Ike Ekweremadu of Enugu west Senatorial District and Yusuf Lasun of Irepodun, Olorunda, Osogbo Federal Constituency as Deputy Senate President and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively.

While Mr. Saraki defeated Mr. Ahmed Lawan of Yobe North to emerge Senate President, Mr. Ekweremadu defeated Ali Ndume of Borno south senatorial district to emerge deputy senate president. Mr. Dogara also defeated Femi Gbajabiamila of Surelere, Lagos federal constituency to emerge the House Speaker. Yusuf Lasun also defeated Tahir Monguno of Monguno/Tahir Federal Constituency, Borno State to emerge the house deputy Speaker. Immediately after the results were released, the social media went agog with many claiming that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has lost out. Some also claimed that with the elections, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken over the control of the National Assembly. It is true that the 'preferred candidates' of the ruling party lost out but that is not enough to assert that the APC has been confused and consequently lost out of the process. The fact remains that the Senate President and the Speaker of the lower chamber are all members of the ruling APC and they were elected by both their party members and the opposition. Above all the APC controls majority seats in both the upper and lower chambers of the house.

Is Buhari's Neutrality Wise?

Before the elections, president Buhari promised to remain neutral throughout the process as he is not interested in who will emerge victorious. He fulfilled that promise by refusing to interfere in the elections outcome. After the conclusion of the elections, many especially the supporters of the opposition maintained that President Buhari is weak and confused. Some even accused him of inexperienced for not interfering to ensure that the choices of his party were respected in the elections. According to them, by not interfering the president has given a huge opportunity to the opposition the come back in 2019. They also mocked the president's insistence not to interfere claiming that such will soon backfire. However, it is important to note that President Buhari took the wisest decision by not interfering despite all pressures to do so. If the President bowed to pressure and interfere, the independence of the legislature will be doubtful and same people that have been lamenting his non-interference will be the first to call him a dictator. Also, even though that the executive powers vested on the President are enough to influence the outcomes of the elections, Buhari took the wisest decision by not exercising such powers and remained neutral. This is because if he attempted to interfere and the legislators refused to bow to executive pressure and elect their choices, the political scene experienced under the past Speaker Aminu Tambuwal will certainly resurface. Many may not know that the 'political gap' seen between Aminu Tambuwal and former President Jonathan was catalysed by the direct interest of Jonathan in ensuring that Tambuwal was not elected which however failed. That created wide gap between Tambuwal and the former president which made both men to see themselves as political enemies. If Jonathan remained neutral and expressed his readiness to support who ever that the house elected, Tambuwal would have worked closely with him and he would not think of joining the opposition. President Buhari must have learnt from that and decided to maintain his neutrality.

Can Legislative Leaders Dictate To The President?

Another issue that trended for days after the the elections into the legislative leadership positions was the claim that with 'non favorites' of former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu and the ruling party emerging as leaders in both chambers, the President is in a hot soup. Some even claimed that those legislative leaders will impeach him. What Nigerians should understand is that Tinubu is not APC and even the party's leadership is not more than the numerous elected members of the party. The real powers of the party are vested on it's members who the party cannot do anything without their support. Also, if majority members of the party are happy with the emergence of Saraki and Dogara as legislative leaders, who are Tinubu and the party's leadership to oppose it. The truth is that the party's leadership cannot afford to fight it's numerous members as that will amount to a political suicide. Moreover, Nigerians should know that legislative leaders are meant to conduct the legislative affairs and concur with the wishes of majority of members. A Senate President can not pass a bill alone likewise a Speaker of the lower house. Also the Senate President and speaker of the lower house cannot impeach the President without the absolute majority. They are bound to go by the wishes of the majority and the APC still maintain majority seats in the house. Also, Nigerians should note that President Buhari still possess the executive powers and remain the Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces of the federation. As far as the 1999 Constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria as amended is concerned, the President possesses overwhelming powers through which he can easily influence the activities of other arms of government especially the legislature. Though we are not praying for an excessive application of those powers by the President, the National Assembly leadership cannot afford to provoke such through maladministration and betrayal of the constitution as the consequences of such can be tough on them. The legislative leaders do not possess immunity from arrest and prosecution, therefore if they betray our laws and moral principles, the President will not have any option than to protect our democracy and Constitution by ordering their arrests and Prosecution.

Our Democracy Benefitted Most

In general, neither the President, APC nor PDP is the greatest beneficiary of this legislative leadership elections outcome. The greatest beneficiary is our democracy. With the election of Ike Ekweremadu that is an opposition member as the Deputy Senate President, the upper house will be fully motivated to checkmate the executive in line with the principles of checks and balances. Also with majority of the opposition in big romance with the legislative leaders, their duties as opposition will be easily carried out which will make the executive to be highly conscious of our laws.

Thank You Buhari

It is important to note that the catalyst of the programmed lively opposition in our democracy is President Buhari. His sustenance of the non-interference principle despite pressures from various quarters including his party's leadership is encouraging and should be commended. Through that he proved that he belongs to everybody but belongs to nobody.

God bless Nigeria.

* The writer Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu is a graduate in the department of political science of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, he can be contacted through @EmerieUduchukwu on Twitter