Legislature That Can’t Say No Is Useless To Democracy – Says Ex-Senate President Saraki

Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has warned that democracy cannot survive without an independent legislature capable of questioning and scrutinising the actions of the executive arm of government.

Saraki said lawmakers must not reduce themselves to rubber stamps, adding that a legislature that merely approves proposals from the executive without proper scrutiny has failed in its constitutional duty.

Naijaonpoint reports that the former Kwara State governor spoke during the June 12, 2026, edition of The Platform, a public lecture organised by the Covenant Nation.

He said his experience as Senate President between 2015 and 2019 showed him that the legislature must have the courage and capacity to act independently in the interest of the people.

“So what I learned in those four years in the National Assembly is that a legislature that cannot say no is not a legislature at all. A legislature which simply receives executive proposals, approves them without scrutiny, and goes home has not fulfilled its constitutional mandate,” Saraki said.

“It has merely performed a ceremonial function. It’s an echo. A democracy made only of echoes is only one election away from becoming something else entirely.”

Saraki said the greatest danger to a free society was not the weakness of government, but the existence of a government that could not be questioned.

According to him, democracy becomes threatened when those in authority are not accountable to anyone.

The former Senate President said, “The greatest danger to a free people is not a weak government but an unchecked government: authority that answers to no one and cannot be questioned.”

He explained that the framers of the Nigerian Constitution deliberately created three arms of government to prevent the concentration of power in one place.

Saraki noted that although the executive, legislature and judiciary depend on one another in the running of government, they were designed to operate independently.

The former governor said disagreements between the executive and legislature should not always be viewed as a sign of crisis or dysfunction.

He said the Constitution was designed to allow both arms of government to challenge one another in order to protect the rights and freedom of citizens.

Saraki said, “They built friction into the system on purpose; it was not a mistake. That friction is not dysfunction; it is the very thing that guarantees your freedom.

“This is a fundamental concept we must understand if we want to strengthen our democracy, because I am sure the majority of us struggle with it. People ask, ‘Why are the executive and the legislature always at each other?’ By constitutional design, they are meant to challenge each other so there can be checks and balances.”

He added that attempts to silence the legislature or make it submissive to the executive would weaken democracy and expose citizens to abuse of power.

Speaking on the significance of Democracy Day, Saraki said the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election remained a reminder of the danger of weak institutions.

He said Nigerians did not lose democracy in 1993 because the people failed, but because the institutions that should have defended their mandate were too weak to do so.

“On this June 12th, the lesson is plain. We did not lose democracy in 1993 because the people failed; we lost it because the institutions that should have defended the people’s verdict were too weak to do so. The remedy is not less politics; it is stronger institutions, and the legislature stands at the centre of them,” he said.

Saraki said the legislature remains one of the most important shields of democracy because it gives citizens a platform to be heard through their elected representatives.

The former Senate President also warned that political tension does not disappear when it is suppressed.

He said when institutions fail to provide room for grievances to be expressed and resolved, citizens may take their anger to the streets.

“Political tension does not vanish when suppressed, it accumulates. A society where grievances cannot find expression through its institutions will see those grievances vent on the streets. The legislature is built to let those voices be heard and resolved before they explode,” Saraki said.

He added that a strong parliament helps to manage public frustration by ensuring that citizens’ concerns are debated and addressed within the democratic system.

Saraki also cited his experience in the National Assembly to explain why lawmakers must have the capacity to investigate government programmes and expose wrongdoing.