Dino Melaye blasts Akpabio, Abbas over failure to hold Tinubu to account

Former lawmaker, who represented Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye, has accused the tenth National Assembly of surrendering its independence and failing to hold the administration of President Bola Tinubu to account.

Melaye, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, made the allegation at a press convention in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said that the way through which the Senate and the House of Representatives have dealt with constitutional amendments, electoral reforms, price range implementation, safety points and different vital issues raises critical questions concerning the management of Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

He described the tenth Assembly as a “department of the Villa,” saying the legislature had deserted its core obligation of checking govt excesses.

In a paper titled “The 10th Assembly: The Pathway to Tinubu’s ‘Lifetime Presidency’,” Melaye argued {that a} president doesn’t want to abolish time period limits to amass extreme energy if establishments meant to restrain him fail to carry out their duties.

“A lifetime presidency doesn’t start with the abolition of time period limits. It begins when the establishments created to restrain a president cease restraining him.

“Nigeria’s constitution does not establish an elected monarchy. It establishes a presidential democracy deliberately divided among institutions so that no individual, however popular or politically powerful, exercises the authority of the Nigerian state without constitutional restraint,” he stated.

According to him, whereas the President wields monumental govt powers, the legislature retains unbiased powers over lawmaking, appropriation and oversight, whereas the judiciary is liable for deciphering the regulation.

Melaye admitted that the National Assembly had handed payments, performed investigations and held public hearings.

​However, he questioned whether or not it had demonstrated ample independence when it mattered most, notably when presidential energy wanted to be checked.

He pointed to the March 2025 declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, controversies surrounding the passage and gazetting of the 2025 tax legal guidelines, disagreements over the Electoral Act 2026, delayed price range implementation, rising Service-Wide Votes and the dealing with of constitutional amendments.