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ABUJA, June 11-- Following the inauguration of Nigeria's 9th federal parliament on Tuesday and the election of the new leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives, citizens of the West African country have called for a more cordial relationship between the executive and the legislative arms of government to engender prosperity. The previous National Assembly had constant rifts with the Executive, a situation generally perceived to have stifled the country's growth in the past four years. Senator Ahmed Lawan of Nigeria's governing All Progressives Congress (APC) party on Tuesday emerged as the country's new Senate president when the 9th National Assembly was inaugurated in the capital Abuja. Also, Femi Gbajabiamila, representing the southwestern state of Lagos, was elected the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Dozie Ifebi, an economist, opined that the discord among different political parties and also within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party had fueled the animosity between the two arms of government, "which meant that the good of the country was sometimes affected by political wrangling." Political analyst Majeed Bakare shared a similar view, noting, however, that though the federal parliament ought not to operate as a rubber stamp, the legislators should work "in tandem with the goals and aspirations of the Executive." "The negative aspect of governance is the lack of sync between the executive and legislative arms of government. The fact that the ruling party had a majority in both the House of Representatives and Senate, they were unable to work in a cordial atmosphere. The executive is equally guilty," Bakare said. | 
