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NASS REPUBLIC: As Buhari gives lawmakers the cold shoulder. Two other stories, and a quote to remember

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2020 budget to be passed on November 28

The pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari to speak up on the state of insecurity in the country reached a crescendo when members of the lower chamber of the National Assembly (NASS) invited the President to address them.

Buhari’s response to the invitation still gives many of them the chill. As usual, there were other memorable events that occupied NASS in the past week.

That cold shoulder

On December 10, the spokesman of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, said that the invitation given to President Buhari to address the House was not aimed at ridiculing him over the security challenges bedeviling the country.

Kalu noted that the House only wished to engage with the President on ways to address the security situation, adding that they did not act in error by inviting him. He also mentioned that the House had the right to investigate the growing insecurity.

The invitation to Buhari, critics admit, is a basic constitutional act in the oversight function of lawmakers which empowers them to ensure accountability and transparency in the discharge of government’s responsibilities.

But Buhari had failed to show up even as he reportedly confirmed earlier that he would honour the invitation. And, this he did without any official explanation.

The seeming cold shoulder treatment, apparently deriving from the advice of Buhari’s aides, depicts a presidency lacking in administrative cohesion.

Apart from being a slap on the face of the Nigerian citizenry who elected him into office, the development continues to confirm that the presidency had become rudderless and insensitive to the yearnings of the people.

Concerns that the lawmakers will carry on as if nothing happened is informed by arguments that NASS, as an institution, had made itself too vulnerable by failing to assert its independence when occasions called for it.

Why APC banished Sen Omo-Agege, wants him arrested

The lame duck disposition was accentuated shortly after Buhari gave NASS members the cold shoulder. Hear the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, speaking about the incident on December 9:

“It is not envisaged by the framers of the Constitution that a day will come where the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who heads the executive arm would be asked to come and testify in the House of Representatives or the Senate. I do not also support that. I don’t believe that the President should come.”

The thinking that NASS appears to be an extension of the executive makes mockery of Nigeria’s democracy and puts the nation at risk on many fronts. Until the institution is able to assert itself, so long would the presidency continue to treat it with disdain.


Two other stories

NASS MEMORY LANE

Who said;

“I did not force myself on my people and therefore somebody out there, especially the one that did not elect me, cannot force me out because I didn’t come in by force. I came in by ballot, not by gun, not by placard, I have posters, not placards. So, if for example. I am short of performance and my constituents feel that they do not have time to waste, there is a clear-cut process by which they can ask me to be recalled?”

Answer: See end of post


Probing a $9bn loss

Alleged N7.6bn fraud: Court revokes Orji Kalu's bail

The Senate, on December 9, urged the Federal Government to investigate the alleged annual revenue loss of $9 billion to illegal mining and smuggling of gold in Nigeria.

The Upper Chamber of NASS reached the resolution sequel to a motion sponsored by the Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu, during plenary. The Committee on Solid Minerals, Mines, Steel Development and Metallurgy was also charged to investigate all illegal mining and revenue leakages associated with the activities.

Read also: NASS REPUBLIC: As Nigerian Senate piles pressure on a stubborn Buhari . Two other stories, and a quote to remember

“Nigeria lost close to $54billion from 2012-2018 due to illegal smuggling of gold. The country is said to be losing about $9billion yearly to illegal mining and gold exportation, a huge amount of money unaccounted for through under the radar sales of the expensive commodity,” the Senators noted.

The resolutions of the Senate could not have been better delivered. Coming at a time that the government of Zamfara State claims to have bought off ounces of gold illegally mined in the state, it also raises fundamental constitutional issues of whether Zamfara can mine and retain income from its gold deposits while other richly endowed regions are made to cede their own resources to the federal government.

At a time when Nigeria is facing a financial hemorrhage, owing to a 60% drop in income from oil sales, it is expected that all revenues constitutionally accruable to the centre are not cornered by a particular state.

Hence, it behoves the Senate to constructively engage the executive on the challenge of illegal mining and gold smuggling or the country risks the danger of a national constitutional crisis.

Funding NCPD

On December 7, the Senate called on the Federal Government to fund the newly established National Commission for Disabilities (NCPD).

The call came through its Committee on Sports, Youth and Social Development, while screening nominees for the position of Chairman and members of the board of the Commission.

The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Obinna Ogba, explained that adequate funding would help the Commission achieve its objective.

“We thank the executive for setting up the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities and nominating persons to run it, but putting such intervention mechanism in place without required funding will defeat the purpose for which it was set up.

With 25 million Nigerians said to be living with different forms of disability, according to the World Health Organisation, the desire of many is that the Buhari-led administration will do the needful.

With transparency and accountability missing in the management of national resources, leading to persistent calls for the harmonization of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), it is hoped that this agency would not be another ‘job for the boys’, with all the attendant rooms it creates for looting of the country’s treasury.

While the Federal Government is encouraged to release the funds, keeping a tab on how the funds are utilised to the benefit of the disabled persons cannot, and must not, be taken for granted.


Answer: Senator Ali Ndume

Ndume made the statement on April 26, 2016, when he was the leader of the Senate. He said it in reaction to a protest by Occupy National Assembly group, calling on the then President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, to resign.

By John Chukwu…

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