Former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, has warned that a weak and compliant legislature poses one of the greatest threats to the survival of democracy in Nigeria, insisting that institutions of government must remain strong and independent if the country’s democratic gains are to endure.

Saraki made the remarks while delivering a keynote address at The Platform’s June Forum in Lagos, an event organised by the Covenant Nation to mark this year’s Democracy Day celebrations.

Speaking on the theme “How Legislature Brings About Democratic Stability by Strengthening Governance and National Development,” the former Kwara State governor described the National Assembly as the load-bearing wall of Nigeria’s democratic structure.

He argued that democracy was not simply handed to Nigerians but was won through years of sacrifice and struggle, and must therefore be continuously protected through robust institutions rather than taken for granted.

Saraki stressed that the parliament exists as the space where a divided nation can air its disagreements without those disagreements tearing the country apart. According to him, this function of managing political conflict peacefully is at the heart of what keeps a democracy stable, and any erosion of that role weakens the entire system of government.

Drawing on his own experience presiding over the Senate between 2015 and 2019, Saraki declared that a legislature unable or unwilling to say no to the executive cannot be considered a legislature at all. He explained that a parliament which merely receives proposals from the executive arm, approves them without scrutiny, and adjourns has failed to carry out its constitutional responsibilities, reducing itself to a ceremonial body that performs no real oversight function.

He further warned that such an institution becomes nothing more than an echo chamber, and cautioned that a democracy built only on echoes is perpetually just one election away from transforming into something entirely different and far less democratic. Saraki maintained that the greatest danger to any democratic order does not come from a weak government, but from an executive that operates without checks or accountability.

The former Senate President called for sustained reforms aimed at strengthening the oversight capacity of the National Assembly, urging lawmakers to place the interests of ordinary citizens above party loyalty or political considerations. His comments come at a time of renewed public debate in Nigeria over the balance of power between the executive and legislative arms of government, as the country reflects on the strength of its institutions nearly three decades into the current democratic era.