‎BY AHMED AKANBI

‎President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday, said the National Assembly does not prove its independence by manufacturing conflict with the executive, but by supporting what advances the national interest.

‎Declaring open the 2026 National Assembly Open Week in Abuja, he said the 10th Assembly has worked constructively with President Bola Tinubu without surrendering its constitutional independence.

‎”Parliament does not prove its independence by manufacturing conflict, nor its relevance by opposing for opposition’s sake.

‎”Our constitutional duty is to support what advances the national interest, to question what requires scrutiny, and to correct what demands improvement,” he said.

‎The Senate President said democracy thrives on openness and citizen participation, not on confrontation between arms of government, urging Nigerians to take ownership of Parliament and engage actively in the legislative process.

‎”There is a fascinating truth about the world’s great parliaments. Long before architects concerned themselves with domes and pillars, they confronted a far more profound question: Where will the people stand?

‎”Courts administer justice in the name of the people. Governments exercise authority on behalf of the people. But Parliament alone deliberates under the watchful eyes of the people. Parliament is not a theatre performed for the people; it is the people’s institution,” he said.

‎Akpabio said the Open Week was designed to bring citizens closer to the legislature, adding that the walls of the National Assembly were built to welcome Nigerians in as rightful owners of democracy.

‎He commended the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Abbas Tajudeen, for partnering with the Senate to deepen legislative openness. He added that despite traditional rivalry, both chambers have worked with “uncommon harmony” in the last three years.

‎”Public confidence is earned not by asking citizens to trust institutions blindly, but by embracing transparency and accountability.

‎Questions strengthen democracy. Transparency strengthens legitimacy. The more Nigerians understand our work, the stronger our democracy becomes,” he stated.

‎The Senate President invited Nigerians to attend public hearings, read laws passed, and challenge lawmakers where necessary.

‎”Come closer. Attend our public hearings. Read the laws we make. Question us. Challenge us. Encourage us. Whether you are with us today, following online, listening on radio, or gathered beneath a mango tree in a village square, this Parliament belongs to you,” he said.

‎Akpabio also reeled out achievements of the 10th Assembly, saying it has passed over 100 bills — the highest at this stage of any democratic dispensation.

‎He listed laws to strengthen security, return out-of-school children to classrooms, modernise tax laws, approve a new national minimum wage, stimulate enterprise through investment legislation, and establish Regional Development Commissions.

‎”We strengthened laws against terrorism and insecurity because every Nigerian deserves to live in safety. We enacted measures to return out-of-school children to the classroom because no nation can mortgage its future by abandoning its children,” he said.

‎On Nigeria’s global standing, Akpabio said the country has returned to the Executive Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union after nearly six decades, which he described as renewed international confidence in Nigeria’s democratic institutions.

‎Concluding, he said the true measure of Parliament is not the height of its walls, but the depth of public confidence.

‎”May this week deepen public trust and remind every Nigerian that democracy is perfected not by silence but by participation; not by buildings but by citizens; and not merely by the laws we pass, but by the confidence our people place in the institutions that serve them,” he declared.