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Tag: Lawmakers

  • Oyo lawmakers at daggers drawn with Speaker

    Oyo lawmakers at daggers drawn with Speaker

    The atmosphere of peace and oneness in the 10th Oyo State House of Assembly may be under threat, given a rumpus over some members’ grievances, which is attracting a suspension decision.

    Seventeen members of the House are said to be unhappy with the House leadership, particularly the Speaker, Adebo Ogundoyin.

    The aggrieved members, who are largely first-timers, are said to be angry over how Ogundoyin is handling their welfare. Ogundoyin is a second-term Speaker.

    The Nation investigation revealed that the 17 aggrieved members adopted the name “10th Assembly New Members Unity Group.” There are 32 members in the Assembly.

    The Assembly is made up of members elected on the platforms of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC).

    While PDP won 28 seats, APC won four seats.

    Fifteen members of the 9th Assembly returned to the current 10th Assembly, while 17 are new members.

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    The Nation gathered that the 17 aggrieved lawmakers sent a petition to the governor over purchase of cars for them by the Speaker, though some members denied their involvement when contacted. They said their signatures were appended by proxy.

    But their action (petition) attracted a backlash from the House leadership with a threat of suspension of concerned lawmakers.

    A source told The Nation that the formation of the Unity Group was in contravention of the Assembly’s rules and as such is springing up heated debates of potential disciplinary actions.

    The development further heightened tension among the lawmakers and the entire Assembly, as the  Assembly complex has been enveloped by graveyard peace.

    According to sources, the number of lawmakers who signed the letter forming the Unity Group, initially reported as 11, has now been confirmed to be 14, with some of the House leaders also involved in the signing of the petition.

  • BREAKING: Federal lawmakers seek six-year single term for president, governor

    BREAKING: Federal lawmakers seek six-year single term for president, governor

    …want two vice presidents elected

    A group of thirty-five federal lawmakers under the auspices of Reformed Minded Lawmakers are advocating an amendment to the 1999 Constitution for a single term of six years for the president and governor.

    The legislators are also advocating a review of the Constitution to provide for the conduct of all elections, from the local government to the presidency in one day to save costs for the nation and reduce the cost of conducting the elections, while removing undue influence in the outcome of the elections.

    Addressing a news conference on Monday, June 10, at the National Assembly the group wants all pre-election matters to be concluded 30 days before the conduct of an election, adding that going ahead with an election when pre-election matters are still in court has not been helpful to the electoral process.

    Spokesman of the group, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere said it is their view also that the constitution be amended to include a rotational presidency with cognisance of the six geopolitical zones and the introduction of two vice presidents to take care of emergencies such as the death of the President.

    Ugochinyere said that conducting all elections in one day will save costs for the nation, ensure greater participation and guarantee electoral credibility with Nigerians being more vigilant.

    Read Also: Rivers crisis: Two federal lawmakers lead youths in solidarity march for Fubara

    They are also advocating 14 days for the electoral umpire to provide certified true copies of electoral documents to candidates who want to file a petition while advocating a one-year jail term for the electoral officer who refuses to provide such documents.

    The lawmakers are also advocating an amendment to the electoral laws to provide 14 years in prison to an electoral officer who failed to transmit election results electronically or result so provided conflict with each other’s.

    The lawmakers said: “On governance, we are proposing:

    • Constitutional Alteration to provide for the rotation of executive powers among the six geopolitical zones to ensure equal representation and reduce the desperation and tempo of agitation for the creation of states.

    • To amend section 3 of the Constitution to provide for the recognition of the division of Nigeria into six geopolitical zones.

    • To amend the Constitution to provide for a single tenure of six years for the President and Governors of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The reduction in government spending and wastage, efficiency in governance, and national stability by providing a single term of six years for the president and governors.

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    • Amend the Constitution to create the office of two vice presidents from the southern and northern parts of Nigeria. The 1st vice shall be a succession Vice president, while the 2nd Vice president shall be a Minister in charge of the Economy, and both shall be Ministers.

    • Constitutional Amendment to provide that the President and the 1st Vice President shall come from the same part of the country (north or south) and the 1st Vice President shall become President whenever the President becomes incapacitated, i.e., V.P. (Succession), V.P. (Administration and Economy)

  • Fubara, lawmakers feud throws Rivers into turmoil

    Fubara, lawmakers feud throws Rivers into turmoil

    • Three pro-governor legislators elect Speaker

    • Council chiefs, govt disagree over withheld allocation

    The crisis in Rivers State took a turn for the worse yesterday.

    Three members of the House of Assembly loyal to Governor Siminialayi Fubara declared themselves as the authentic House of Assembly members.

    They elected one of them, Victor Oko-Jumbo, representing Bonny Constituency, as Speaker.

    This follows the governor’s declaration of 27 lawmakers who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as illegitimate.

    The election of Oko-Jumbo as speaker took place at about 10 am.

    Thereafter, he declared: “All laws, plenary sessions and actions taken by the illegal House members are hereby declared void and a nullity in the eyes of the law.’’

    Oko-Jumbo’s election by three Pro-Fubara lawmakers, was in spite of the peace deal brokered between the warring parties by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu late last year.

    Since then, the Martin Amaewhule-led Assembly has continued to make laws for the state, overriding the assents of the governor, who continually vetoed the passed bills.

    Other parties joined the crisis, instituting various suits at the state high court to challenge the actions of the lawmakers.

    While the Amaewhule-led Assembly continued to threaten the governor with impeachment, the governor on Monday fired back. 

    Oko-Jumbo, in a statement, accepted his position and thanked the members for electing him. 

    He said: “This is in line with Section 92(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (CFRN 1999) as Amended.

    “You will agree with me that after the House last sat on the 13th of December, 2023, and adjourned sine dine, there has been an avalanche of legislative rascality perpetrated by the 25 former members of the 10th Rivers State House of Assembly, led by the former Speaker, Rt. Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule.

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    “These former members, being fully aware of the provisions of Section 109(1)(g) of the CFRN 1999, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Party (APC) on the 11th of December, 2023.

    “My distinguished colleagues, there are a plethora of cases pending in our courts further to the defection of the former lawmakers.

    “All laws, plenary sessions and actions taken by the illegal House members are hereby declared void and a nullity in the eyes of the law by virtue of the judgment of Lord Denning in the celebrated case of MacFoy v UAC (1961) 3 All ER 1169.

    “You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stay there. It will collapse.

    “Furthermore, this House would want to most respectfully urge and call on His Excellency, the Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, to desist forthwith from further dealings with the 25 former lawmakers, in whatever guise.

    “Those members are merely floating and do not have any landing ground or anywhere to berth their ship since their defection to the APC on the 11th of December, 2023.

    “We will sit again, and communicate our proceedings to the public and make sure that we are doing what we ought to do to ensure there is transparency and clarity of leadership of the 10th Legislative Assembly.”

    Fubara is a threat to democracy, says Amaewhule

    Also, yesterday, the Amaewhule-led House described Fubara as a threat to democracy. 

    A statement by the media aide to the Speaker, Martins Wachukwu, quoted members, who rose against the governor’s remarks as describing them as unguarded and a direct affront to the grundnorm of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “We will not join the governor in messy comments. We will continue to perform our constitutional functions as an institution and one of the tripods of democratic government”, the Speaker said.

    At the sitting, the lawmakers were said to have consolidated the State Local Government Law No. 5 of 2018, the Rivers State Local Government (Amendment) Law of 2023, and the Rivers State Local Government (Amendment) Law No. 4 of 2024 to form a new Local Government Law that provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of the local government councils and other matters.

    Another twist yesterday was the revelation by the local government chairmen that the governor was withholding allocation to some of the councils.

    They warned of a likely breakdown of peace over the action.

    On Tuesday, the Rivers chapter of the APC “directed” the 27 lawmakers to begin an impeachment process against Governor Fubara for misconduct.

    But the government rejected the call, which it described as a smokescreen.

    Elder statesman Edwin Clark urged Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun to intervene quickly to prevent a looming crisis.

    Insisting that the council chairmen distorted the information on allocation, the state government said the chairmen should prepare to vacate office on June 17.

    This is contrary to the Bill passed into law by the House of Assembly after overriding the veto of Governor Fubara.

    The chairmen said one of the councils last received its statutory allocation in February and two in March.

    But the government said only one council, Emohua, had its fund withheld by the Local Government Service Commission “to save the dignity and rights’’ of its employees.

    The government which also said that Fubara had no interest in council funds, advised the chairmen to prepare for their exit on June 17.

    It also told them that no retroactive law by the state House of Assembly would save them from vacating office on the said date.

    The Martin Amaehwule–led House which has since late last year been at loggerheads with the governor passed a local government amendment bill into law in April after Fubara declined his assent.

    It had on March 13 amended the Rivers State Local Government Law No. 5 of 2018 and other matters connected thereto, to pave the way for the council chairmen to seek fresh terms.

    Twenty-seven out of the 32 members of the House and the council chairmen are backing Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Nwike in the feud between him and Fubara.

    On Monday, the governor declared that the Amaehwule–led house had ceased to exist in the eyes of the law.

    This infuriated the state APC to direct its 27 legislators in the House to commence impeachment proceedings against the governor.

    The call was yesterday described by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a forceful move by the APC to take over the state.

    Addressing reporters in Port Harcourt yesterday, the 21 council chairmen said that by withholding council allocations, Fubara was inching towards ‘’proscribing the third tier of government the way he declared that the House of Assembly does not exist.’’

    They called on President Tinubu, the House of Assembly, and ‘’well-meaning Rivers people and Nigerians’’ to wade in by calling the governor to order.

    The chairmen lamented in a statement that was read by the Mayor of Port Harcourt, Allwell Ihunda, that the non-release of the allocations was preventing their colleagues in the affected councils “from discharging their primary responsibilities” to the people.

    They alleged that Fubara had already started talking with heads of personnel management, treasurers and directors of the councils on how to ensure that salaries of local government employees were paid without their involvement.

    Their statement partly reads. “The action of the governor has handicapped the local government councils and prevented them from discharging their primary responsibilities of local government administration at the grassroots, which includes the welfare of the people in the areas of sanitation, security and public health sector.

    “We, therefore, call on President Tinubu to intervene by calling the governor of Rivers State to order with a view to avoiding a breakdown of governance, law, and order in Rivers State.

    “We call on the honourable members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to take appropriate steps to check the excesses of the governor of Rivers State and ensure the survival and sustenance of democratic institutions in our state.

    “We also call on all well-meaning Rivers people and Nigerians, in general, to join in condemning the unlawful withholding of local government funds by the Rivers State Government as undemocratic, unconstitutional and retrogressive.

    “We have noticed that the Governor of Rivers State is seeking to proscribe the system of local government which is guaranteed under Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

    “This action is tantamount to an illegal proscription of the local government councils by a governor who had recently announced that the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly are non-existent or exist merely at his convenience/mercy.

    “These are clear signs that Rivers State is on the verge of being plunged into the dark ages of totalitarianism and autocratic rule under His Excellency Sir Siminialayi Fubara.”

    The state Information Commissioner,  Warisenibo Johnson, who said that only Emohua Local Government allocations were withheld, told the council chiefs to know that their tenures cannot be extended by any retrospective law.

    Johnson explained that the allocations of three councils – Ikwerre, Ahoada East, and Emohua – were seized by the state’s Local Government Service Commission for sacking some of their workers in breach of the law.

    Ikwerre and Ahoada council funds, according to him, were later released when they recalled the affected workers.

    He said: “Emohua, Ahoada East, and Ikwerre local government areas chairmen were involved in an act beyond their constitutional powers.

    “Local government chairmen have no right to sack any local government staff. The only body vested with that responsibility is the Local Government Service Commission. The three local government areas ran into murky waters.

    “But Ahoada East and Ikwerre Local councils obeyed the directives of the commission but Emohua refused to do so and the commission was bent on doing the right thing.”

    ‘’That is why the money of Emohua is withheld. Nobody is holding their money. The governor is not interested in their money.”

    The commissioner added that the chairmen should not nurse the idea of continuing in office beyond their three-year tenure because the 1999 Constitution prohibits retrospective laws.

    Johnson said: “There is a prohibition on retrospective law. No law is made in retrospect. So, if a council chairman’s tenure is statutorily three years, no law can be made by any House of Assembly that can override the provisions of the 1999 Constitution on retrospective law.

    “The local government chairmen will naturally sound the way they are sounding because there is something for them to benefit. What they are pursuing is a smokescreen, a fluke, and a mirage. It has no basis in law. Too many wrongs can never make one right.

    “It is a settled law that their tenure will expire on the 17th of June and by the 18th of June they will no longer be eligible to be called chairmen. It means their responsibilities have turned to what is called functus officio. They should stop deceiving Rivers people.”

    PDP warns APC against forcible takeover of Rivers

    The PDP warned that the call for Fubara’s impeachment by the APC was tantamount to an attempt to overthrow a democratic order in breach of the 1999 Constitution.

    The party consequently urged the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to urgently investigate “the subversive utterances” of the state APC Chairman, Mr. Tony Okocha.

    National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba, who spoke with reporters in Abuja, added that the call by Okocha indicated ‘’APC’s desperation to forcefully (forcibly) annexe’’ Rivers State.

    He said: “Such reckless and unwarranted statement by the APC Chairman in Rivers State exposes the vile desperation of the APC, which is roundly rejected in Rivers State, to use violence, coercion, and bullying to undermine the will of the people and forcibly take over the State.

    “The fact that the Rivers State APC Chairman, in his warped imagination, thinks he can direct impeachment proceeding against a duly elected state governor not only shows the level of APC’s arrogance and condescension for the people of Rivers State but also further confirms APC’s desperation to annex their democratic rights under the constitution forcefully.’’

    According to Ologunagba, the PDP shares Fubara’s viewpoint that the 27 APC members in the House have no constitutional authority.

    “In any event, the individuals that the Rivers State APC chairman directed to commence impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara are not legally members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and cannot contemplate or exercise such powers under the law,’’ he said.

    “The PDP draws the attention of the Inspector General of Police to the subversive utterances of the APC Chairman in Rivers State which are capable of triggering crisis and derailing the Democratic Order in the country.

    “The APC must perish the thought of forcefully taking over Rivers State as such is a direct assault on the sensibility of the people which will be resisted firmly.’’

    The party also advised Okocha to ‘’come to terms with the fact that Rivers State is home to PDP and that the people of Rivers State are not ready to put their destiny in the hands of a corrupt, oppressive and anti-people Special Purpose Vehicle like the APC.’’

  • Benjamin Kalu: Fiscal accountability and need for lawmakers to sacrifice

    Benjamin Kalu: Fiscal accountability and need for lawmakers to sacrifice

    • By Yomi Odunuga

    The recent statements made by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, have ignited a crucial debate regarding the perceived financial privileges of lawmakers in Nigeria. In a televised interview on Channels Television, Kalu vehemently opposed the widespread notion that legislators are solely motivated by financial gain within the hallowed chambers. He argued that the prevailing assumptions regarding lawmakers’ extravagant salaries and allowances are grossly exaggerated and fail to capture the realities faced by elected representatives in the two chambers of the National Assembly.

    Nothing could be farther from the truth in Kalu’s humble estimation. In fact, from records available to the ranking lawmaker and tested politician from Abia State, what Nigerians misconstrue as huge pay packets for the 109 senators and 360 House of Representatives members are mere peanuts that shouldn’t be elevated to the level of ‘take home pay’. It is, therefore, preposterous if not exasperating for our ‘Honourable Representatives’ and ‘Distinguished Senators’ (as they prefer to be called), that most Nigerians are calling for a slash in the salaries and allowances of these hard working lawmakers who are already sacrificing more than an arm and a leg to make laws for the good governance of Nigeria since May 29, 1999.

    Of course, trying to get the actual salaries and emoluments due to each lawmaker in the National Assembly has remained a needless task regardless of what the Freedom of Information Act stipulates; Kalu insisted that the figures flying around were ‘far cry” from what they get paid eventually. However, he was smart to make a clear distinction between ‘salary’ and ‘allowance’, another sub-head that is shrouded in utmost secrecy. Listen to him: “At the moment, talking about the salary of the National Assembly. I have said this over and again, it is not as much as people think. Salary is different from allowance, which is meant to do the jobs our constituents have sent us to do. Nobody is allowed to touch allowances. It is the salary that belongs to you. Allowances have no subheadings for which they are made for. If you use it wrongly, when you are retiring it, you will be sanctioned for that. So talking about the salaries of the National Assembly, it is a far cry from what is supposed to be. And I can assure you that even if we reduce it by 50 per cent or 80 per cent, it will not really impact what the Nigerian lawmakers should be earning, which does not go in tandem with the economic situation of the country. I can assure you that based on economic indices at the moment, inflation rate and the rest of them, the amount members of the National Assembly receive cannot actually take them home to do their jobs in their various constituencies. Considering the cost of transport, running constituency offices and the number of maintaining aides who are supposed to have you achieve what the mandate of that office demands, it is not a discussion that will add value to the crisis we are faced with. But I can assure you they will be willing to adjust. If that is what will move Nigeria to the next level, why not? After all, we did not send ourselves there. We were voted in by the constituents.”

    Kalu’s assertions shed light on the intricate complexities surrounding the opaque range of benefits for our lawmakers in the National Assembly. While acknowledging the public’s right to transparency, he emphasized the crucial distinction between ‘salaries’ and ‘allowances’, underscoring their intended purpose in facilitating lawmakers’ constituency obligations. He stressed that allowances are strictly designated for specific duties and any misuse would result in disciplinary measures. However, he lamented the pervasive misconception that lawmakers’ earnings are excessive, highlighting the inadequacy of their compensation in light of economic factors such as inflation and rising living costs.

    Yet, amidst Kalu’s defense lies a deeper concern regarding accountability and transparency within the legislative process. The opacity surrounding the allocation and utilization of funds within the National Assembly has long been a subject of scrutiny and public outcry. When concerned Nigerians raise eyebrows about the incredulously huge financial allocations to the National Assembly yearly and the lack of transparency in the disbursements of the funds, it is not because they anticipate that lawmakers should live a Spartan life and get impoverished on the job.

    Perish that thought. No one in his right senses would expect our distinguished and honourable patriots to live like paupers. It is just that people are concerned because the business of lawmaking is often jeopardized at the behest of a seeming financial inducement and lack of transparency. Nigerians begin to see their lawmakers’ larger-than-life posture immediately  they get sworn-in and they hardly see or experience their legislative interventions impacting quotidian living. Over the years, Nigerians observe a strange romance between our federal legislators and the executive arm and perceive a symbiotic relationship that tends to give aplomb to executive recklessness in policy initiatives. For instance, it is public secret that many of the so=called ‘oversight’ visits to various parastatals as well as summons of ministers and government agencies are sometimes more about legislators’ interests than anything else

    When citizens demand accountability from their representatives at the National Assembly, they get fed with the same excuse that what the National Assembly takes annually from the budget is an abysmal five percent which is used to service the needs of the lawmakers as well as a bloated bureaucracy. Oftentimes, the NASS leadership gives the impression that the funding was so infinitesimal that important business of lawmaking even gets badly hampered with lawmakers just scraping by and, by so doing, making a huge sacrifice in other to make Nigeria great. The ‘sacrifice’ being made by our ‘Honourable members’ and ‘Distinguished Senators’ include cruising around in brand new vehicles costing far above N100m each, or more than N50 billion collectively.

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    But, I ask, when Kalu says salaries and allowances are hardly enough to fund the enormous tasks before each lawmaker, what exactly does he mean? When he says that the paltry allocations have also been drastically affected by economic indices like inflation and hikes in prices of goods and services, does he think that a little cut in such allocations would be tantamount to asking our pampered legislators to embrace self-immolation? Has he done a mental calculation of what would be saved by the system if, for example, the lawmakers decide to cut down their monthly expenses by 20 percent? If not, how did he know that  a 50 or 80  percent cut would not significantly boost the economy or cut down the waste that everyone sees daily on display with the affluent lifestyles of his colleagues? In any case, how does this illogic sound in the conscience of any lawmaker who truly has the wellbeing of the people at the core of his presence in the hallowed chambers? In a situation where the vast majority of an impoverished populace (the electorate) is being asked to make huge sacrifice and suffer through the drill of an unbelievable economic quagmire, how can an elected and privileged officer of the state flippantly wave off a suggestion that the sickening profligacy daily on exhibition in the National Assembly should stop? And let no one pretend here that Nigerians are merely talking about salaries and allowances when they ask for a change in how billions of naira are being frittered away annually in the National Assembly. No, it is much more than that. A system that lacks transparency like ours is open to excessive abuse and the National Assembly is not any different. Right from inception, the issue of budget padding with the active connivance of the executive has not abated. If anything, it has been firmed up in such a way that the under-the-table dealings have ripped Nigeria off. That is why the budget bleeds despite the pretentious rounds of budget defence by Ministries, Departments and Agencies. In the past, a sense of seriousness and professionalism were accorded these budget defence sittings because they were held in the open and reporters were allowed to cover the sessions. Today, that narrative has changed drastically. Agreements are now reached in conclaves attended by heads of these MDAs and chairmen of the committees concerned in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. What then follows is a cosmetic gathering of like minds with all the melodrama playing out for the cameras.

  • A timely reminder to our lawmakers

    A timely reminder to our lawmakers

    • By Remi Adeleke

    Sir: The law-making chamber is to the democratic order what the heart is to the human body. If the chamber is malfunctioning, the democracy is on the verge of collapsing. To ensure that our democracy does not collapse, the need to remind or sensitize the lawmakers to their statutory responsibility cannot be overemphasized.

    Is it not preposterous to hear a distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria argue that there is nothing wrong in engaging in crass profligacy of purchasing N160m SUV cars simply because the ministers have six cars in their fleet, three of which could be Land cruisers? Another senator argued that its only N160m SUV car that can ply the bad roads to his senatorial district and appropriate for oversight function.

    Honestly, if these are the lawmakers we have to check the excesses of other arms of government, are we not in trouble?

    How can a public officer buy official car of N160m at a time over 60% of Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor? This was the situation preceding the era of subsidy removal. Nigerians are still groaning under the excruciating pains of subsidy removal as many have parked their cars including senior management officers of federal civil service; many have been laid off especially in the private sector. Exodus of medical doctors  to other countries due to poor renumeration and under equipped health facilities are ongoing; millions of unemployed youths, the ones employed in the public sector are being paid with  loans borrowed from other countries, bad roads nationwide, industries folding up due to poor infrastructure, national debt in tune of N87 trillion.

    Yet, politicians,  some who have never in their lifetime driven cars of N5million want to drive a car of N160m. Haba! There is God ooo! It is dangerous for politicians to keep taking Nigerians simplicity and docility for granted.

     Politics is not where you go to enrich yourself, friends, cronies, and relatives. You go into politics to serve the people, to deliver dividends of democracy that would bring about remarkable differences in terms of significant improvement in the social and material well-being of the people. You go into politics to prove that you can serve the people better than those that were hitherto in power, not to amass wealth or live an ostentatious life at the expense of the people. That parliamentarians have power to appropriate does not mean they should appropriate so much to themselves to the detriment of other Nigerians.

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    The national interest and the future of the nation should dominate the consideration in the approval of any request/proposal from the executive arm of government. The way and manner the NASS approves the request for loans from the executive without proper scrutiny is not only a retardation in democratic order, but also antithetical to democratic norms.

    In this democratic journey, only politicians seem to be enjoying democratic dividends as the gaps between the leaders and the led is getting horrendously wider by the day. In tune with the present economic reality, while the the people are being asked to sacrifice and tighten their belt, in same socio-economic milieu, the politicians are living large. What a paradox!

    Our parliamentarians should in the interest of the nation put on their garb of compassion. They should shelve the idea of SUV cars of N160M and opt for locally assembled cars in the range of N20m to 30m to conserve foreign exchange.

    Purchase of NI60m cars at these times of economic doldrum by politicians portends insensitivity and indifference to plight  of Nigerians. This could equally erode the moral right of the of the parliamentarians in checking the profligacy or excesses of the other arms of government.

    Shelving the ideas of purchasing SUV cars for less expensive cars that reflects the present economic reality could buoy the waning respect the public have for the parliamentarians and  stem the embarrassing and increasing cases of refusal to honor the parliamentarians on invitation to appear before the National Assembly.

    •Remi Adeleke,

     Suleja, Niger State.

  • Lawmakers’ Prado toys as symptom of our malady

    Nigerian lawmakers, because of their antipathy towards laws put in place to guide their behaviour, are often derisively dismissed as law-breakers by Nigerians who believe they are out only to serve themselves and not those they represent. We didn’t need to search far for evidence. Our lawmakers so far have not tried to invalidate the claim by well-informed Nigerian opinion leaders that lawmakers in breach of the constitution and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission’s (RMAFC) salary ceiling for lawmakers awarded themselves outrageous monthly salaries of between N20m-N30m in a nation where many states cannot pay the N30,000 minimum wages. Nigerian lawmakers have since acquired the unsavoury reputation as the highest paid lawmakers in the world with the influential London Economist in 2013 ranking Nigeria as “the country with the most unjust and lopsided pay structure in the world”.

    Beyond humongous salaries they are allegedly paying themselves, it was obvious from  RMFAC published details of the remuneration package  for political, public and judicial office holders, that lawmakers  are not entitled to operational vehicles, but an optional car loan of between N7.9m and N8.1m for each lawmaker.  But the senate in spite of this went ahead to spend  N4.7 billion on Peugeot 508 saloon cars for themselves in 2015 and similar amount on Toyota Camry saloon cars in 2020. If Nigerians are outraged with the 10th assembly’s N160m financial frivolity on “operational vehicles” for each of its 469 members, at a period when Nigerians are experiencing economic pain, it was because the action was considered insensitive and treacherous.

    First, this was at a time the voters on whose back the lawmakers rode to power are unable to go to work daily because of increase in cost of transportation as a result of fuel subsidy removal. It was a period of an ongoing government negotiation with Labour in order to prevent a general strike and a lock-down of the economy. It was also at a time the government was desperately trying to work out palliatives in form of money transfer to some thousands of the poorest and most vulnerable in the land.

    With the naira in free fall against the dollar, many believe the  time is most inauspicious for legislators to spend our scarce foreign exchange on importation of toys when we have local brands such as Innoson, Nords, Pro-Force and others producing high-end vehicles, including SUVs currently patronized by some state governments in the country. As one local manufacturer puts it: “The National Assembly buying foreign-built vehicles at this time is dispiriting especially when you consider that we are all trying to promote buy Nigeria to grow the Naira”. “Exporting jobs by ordering from foreign brands instead of local brands” as the Centre for Social Justice also recently observed, many believe is a crime against the nation.

    But if you ask me, I will say the antics of our lawmakers; their betrayal and corruption are but symptoms of greater malaise assailing our nation. We are probably expecting too much from our lawmakers who unfortunately cannot give what they don’t have.

     The military destroyed our political socialization process and when finally forced to step aside after almost 30 years, what was bequeathed onto us was a military-baked ‘new breed’ politicians that behave like army of occupation groomed in the art of sharing loot of conquered territories.

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    It was therefore not an accident that within three months of coming to power in 1999, the new government and legislature populated by retired Generals and other ranks and their business fronts came out with petroleum importation policy through which fuel import licenses were allocated to over 100 companies fronting for them. A House probe was to later confirm the theft of about N1.7t through the fuel subsidy regime exploited by lawmakers, PDP stalwarts and their children without importing a pint of fuel.

    It was not a surprise that with Obasanjo’s privatization policy, they sold to themselves Nigeria’s total investment of about $100b for a paltry $1,5b while with Obasanjo/Jonathan monetization policy, civil servants and lawmakers including Speaker Dimeji Bankole, Senate President David Mark and CBN Governor Chukwuma Soludo allegedly bought their official residences at a fraction of their real cost.

    It was not also a surprise that the new-breed successive leaders of the National Assembly were all discovered to be men with feet of clay. Senate presidents Evans Enwerem was removed from office on November 1999 for falsification of name, Chuba Okadigbo was removed as Senate President in August 2000 by 81-14 votes over inflation of contract costs while Anyim Pius Anyim out of office was grilled by EFCC for shortfall of about N396 billion in ecological fund deductions as well as over $1.3B Centenary City project.  Bukola Saraki sold the victory of his party to the opposition by cutting a deal which ceded the deputy senate presidency to the opposition, in what Itse Sagay described as “a victory for impunity, a victory for fraud and a victory for political desperation and indiscipline”.

    In the Lower House, Speakers Salisu Buhari was removed for certificate and age falsification, Patricia Ette was removed in 2007 over award of about N628m for the renovation of her official residence and that of the deputy speaker,  Dimeji Bankole bought his palatial official quarters for N45m after N200m provision had been provided in 2008 budget for its renovation. There was also  Abdul Mumin Jibrin who, when  accused of ‘unilaterally padding the 2016 budget to the tune of N4.1 billion to his Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency in Kano State, attributed his travails to his inability “to admit into the budget almost N30 billion personal requests from Mr. Speaker Dogara and the three other principal officers”.

    The excesses of our lawmakers did not go unnoticed by Nigerian concerned opinion leaders. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as governor of Central bank on December 1, 2010 during a lecture at the University of Benin was the first to inform Nigerians that federal legislators had cornered about 25% of federal government budget. The late former Justice of Supreme Court, Justice Kayode Eso on November 21, 2010 warned that ‘for any senator including absentee senators to take home N30m every month without accountability as a foundation for revolution”.

    While ex-President Obasanjo at the public presentation of the autobiography of Justice Mustapha Akanbi, in Abuja, in November 2014 ridiculed the National Assembly, as “largely an assemblage of looters and thieves”, it was the view of Biodun Jeyifo that “if you want to know why looting and thievery became so pervasive in the 4th Republic, you must pay attention to the legalization and institutionalization of greed and sleaze in our predatory legislature”.

    Lawmakers’ infidelity, perfidy of ethnic nationalities and political intrigue and economic sabotage by those who have no faith in the country are but symptoms of our greater malaise. Our malady is our superstructure. General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s Decree 24 as Pa Ayo Adebanjo has repeatedly warned, will not take us to the Promised Land.

    President Bola Tinubu might have tried to prove that separation of power in presidential system is an illusion, the N5.7b Prado toys’ treachery is a sad reminder that even if an angel operates a unitary constitution in a multicultural society, he will fail. To guard against the fate of his predecessors therefore, the president must ensure we stop playing the ostrich and return to where the rain started to beat us.

  • Between defection and lawmakers’ mandate

    Last week’s ruling of the Federal High Court that Senator Sonni Ogbuoji, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to All Progressives Congress in 2018, must vacate his senatorial seat has revived the controversy over defection and the issue of mandate given to a lawmaker, reports Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu

    WHEN the Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, last week ordered Senator Sonni Ogbuoji to immediately vacate his Ebonyi South Senatorial District seat for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on which platform he was elected into the Red Chamber, to All Progressives Congress (APC), it resurrected an old debate over a habit that has continued to heat up Nigerian political theatre.

    The debate over the need to force a lawmaker to vacate his seat if he defects to another party other than the political party that sponsored his election first gained wide national attention between 1999 and 2007, when many lawmakers defected to other parties, leaving the parties on whose platform they were elected in the cold. Citing unfavorable consequences on the fortunes of the parties, party leaders and other concerned observers then called for constitutional amendment that would make it legal to force such lawmakers to vacate their seats.

    With the amendments in the relevant laws, many had thought the matter had been finally laid to rest. But this seems to be far from the truth as every defection in the political scene has remained a source of controversy and legal battle for the coveted seat.

    The relevant law, Section 68(1) g of the 1999 Constitution as amended, states that a federal lawmaker should vacate the seat if, “being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected:

    “Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.”

    Section 109(1) gives the same condition for a lawmaker at the state level when it states that “A member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if- (g) being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected:

    “Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.”

    These provisions notwithstanding, the issue of losing the plum legislative seat after a lawmaker’s defection to another party has continued to remain a critical issue.

    For example, the case concerning Senator Sonni Ogbuoji, which the Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki ruled on last week, again raised the issue of whether or not the lawmaker’s mandate is his or his party’s. It also raises questions on when it would be safe to say that one’s political party is in crisis enough to warrant defection to another party without attracting the punishment of losing seat.

    Justice Akintola Aluko, who delivered the 71-page judgement, said by defecting from PDP to APC in 2018, Senator Ogbuoji “flouted Section 68(1)g of the 1999 Constitution.”

    The judgement was in respect of suit number FHC/AI/CS/44/2018 filed by Evo Ogbonnaya Anegu, Oti Ama Ude, Uche Richard Ajali, Una Sunday Okoro and Simon Ajali Ogbadu for themselves and on behalf of the members of the PDP in Ebonyi South Senatorial District.

    They asked the court to declare Ogbuoji’s seat vacant for defecting to the APC when there was no crisis or division in the PDP.

    After a prolonged debate between the plaintiff and the defence attorneys on the correct date of Ugbuoji’s defection, the court held that the plaintiffs proved their case beyond reasonable doubt, “adducing credible evidence to establish that Ogbuoji defected to the APC in January 2018 and not January 2017 as he claimed in his defence.

    “It also said that at the time of defection, there was no division or faction in PDP to warrant such defection as permitted by section 68 (1) g of the constitution.”

    The court therefore ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to the senator and to conduct a fresh election to fill the seat.

    It also ordered the senator to “refund to the coffers of government all monies, be it salaries, allowances or any order form of payment, he may have received as benefits from the position from the date of his defection.”

    Ogbuoji had defended that he resigned his membership of the PDP and defected to APC on Jan. 27, 2017 when the party was still enmeshed in crisis and not January 2018 as claimed by the plaintiffs.

    But the plaintiff argued that “Ogbuoji, who claimed to have defected from PDP to APC in January 2017, took active part in the non-elective and elective congresses of PDP in August and December 2017 as a delegate.”

    The debate on whether lawmakers who defected to other political parties must loss their seats have remained unresolved as it have continued to trail every round of defections in Nigeria. It peaked in the months before the 2015 General Elections.

    It would be recalled that in 2014, shortly after 37 PDP members of the House of Representatives had defected to the APC, when the report became rife that many PDP senators had also completed arrangements to defect to APC, Sen. Ita Enang from Akwa Ibom State, for example, warned that all senators who defect from one political party to another must lose their seats. He said “while it was acceptable for politicians to defect to another party, it was unacceptable for them to retain their seats.”

    According to Enang then, “the law clearly mandated that any member intending to defect to another party must prove that there was a division in the member’s current party or the party had merged.”

    Almost five years after, the same question was the major issue in the legal battle: Was there crisis, or was there a division in the political party when Ogbuoji defected? He said there was division when he resigned his membership in 2017 but the plaintiff convinced the court that he did not leave the party in 2017 as alleged, but that he left it in 2018 and that in that 2018, there was no crisis, no division in PDP.

    Commenting on whether there is any time a political party would be said to be free of crisis or division, Dr. Francis Ugochukwu, a political analyst told The Nation that “political parties are populated by people with independent minds. Even in the developed democracies where political parties are built on ideological lines, members have their individual views on issues. This means that within such parties, varied opinions and interests can be identified. These, however, are not what constitute division or crisis. Although the relevant law, Section 68 (1) g of the 1999 Constitution as amended did not specify what it means by the words ‘division’ or ‘crisis,’ it seems we generally believe that a political party in Nigeria can only be said to have crisis or a division, when it becomes factionalised, that is when more than one executive claim leadership of the said party. If this is accepted here, it would be correct to say that it is possible for a political party not to have division. So, if any elected politician decides to defect from the platform it used to win election at a time there is no faction, it would be fair to force such an official to vacate his seat as the law provides.”

    The question of whether or not there is division has remained a major controversy in the country. It would be recalled that in the case of Zaphaniah Jisalo (Abuja Municipal Area Council /Bwari Federal Constituency of the Federal Capital Territory) and Ahmed-Tijani Damisa (Okene/Ogori-Magongo Federal Constituency in Kogi State) who were elected on PDP platform but defected to APC, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, was urged by members to invoke Section 68 of the Constitution and declare the defectors’ seats vacant. He declined and argued that their reliance on Section 68 (1g) is not enough to demand that the defectors’ seats be declared vacant, since according to him that provision did not define the meaning of division.

    As he puts it: “Division in a political party is not defined by the constitution. The constitution does not state whether it should be at the national, state or local government level. So, we should allow the judiciary to do its job.”

    Aside the difficulty inherent in the interpretation of Section 68 (1), it has been observed that matters like this have only led to endless legal battles. For example, when in 2014, the then Speaker of the House of Representatives and later Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal and other 42 PDP members of the House defected to the APC ahead of 2015 General Elections, citing leadership crisis in PDP, the matter dragged on until the 2015 Elections when Tambuwal was elected Governor of Sokoto State. After the elections, nothing was heard of the cases.

    Today, what seems to generate more heated controversy is the court’s ruling that Ogbuoji should refund all his salaries and other earnings from the time of the defection. Commenting, Israel Mbang, a lawyer, argues that it would not be fair to ask an elected lawmaker to refund his earnings at the time he was still a legitimate occupier of the seat at the chamber. “This does not seem fair. I am sure the senator will appeal this judgment. If he is guilty, he is guilty from the time he was found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. Until that judgment was passed last week, the said senator was innocent. Although he was elected on a political platform, he has the people’s mandate. He is the person the people elected for a specific term and if up till the time of the said judgment, he was legitimately doing the legislative duties, asking him to refund his earnings within that term is a matter that should be tested at the appeal,” he said.

    As Ogbuoii drags the matter to appeal, it seems the controversy has just begun.

     

  • Lawmakers summon AG, commissioner over Imo debt profile

    The Imo State House of Assembly has summoned the Accountant-General, Casmir Ozuzu, and Commissioner for Finance Ugochi Nnanna-Okoro, to appear before it today to explain the state’s debt profile.

    A motion by Chika Madumere (Nkwere council) urged the House to invite the Accountant General and Finance Commissioner to give account of the state’s actual debt profile “since the governor had consistently said the state was not indebted”.

    When the motion was put into vote, the House unanimously agreed that the duo be invited to appear during plenary on Wednesday.

    A motion to ascertain the position of the 2019 budget appropriation bill was also moved by Kennedy Ibe.

    Ibe said since the governor presented the appropriation budget in December, it had not been passed into law.

    The House Committee Chairman on Budget Appropriation, Marcel Odunze, said “to the best of my knowledge as the House Committee Chairman on budget appropriation, the 2019 budget appropriation has not been passed into law but to my surprise I am hearing that the budget has been passed”.

    A motion for the 27 Local Government Area Chairmen to appear before the house on Wednesday was equally considered. The motion, which was moved by Arthur Egwuim (Ideato North), said the chairmen slighted an invitation by the House Committee on local government matters to give account of the financial status of the councils.

    Ibe, who supported the motion, said it was an insult for the council chairmen to send two persons on the auspicious of ALGON, Imo State.

    According to him, ALGON was not known to law.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Lawmakers shun audit reports

    No auditor-general’s report has been fully considered by the National Assembly since 1999, it was learnt at the weekend.

    The Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF), Anthony Ayine, urged members of the National Assembly to clear backlogs of audit reports submitted to them.

    In a paper titled: “The role of National Assembly in promoting public accountability”, which he presented at the ongoing orientation programme for senators-elect/members-elect of the Ninth National Assembly in Abuja.

    Ayine said that to the best of his knowledge, none of reports submitted to the National Assembly for consideration since 1999 has been fully attended to.

    He explained that for audit report to be seen to have been treated after submission, a resolution of the National Assembly must be transmitted to the Executive for necessary action.

    Ayinye explained that for audit report to be submitted to the National Assembly, “we work with the financial report of the Accountant-General of the Federation’s financial report.”

    According to him, his office has started work on the 2017 financial report for submission to the National Assembly for consideration, adding that the last report submitted was for 2016.

    “Good governance”, he said, “will remain a mirage in the country, without transparency (openness) and accountability.”

    Ayine said: “Corruption has stifled economic growth and development in our country. I am therefore optimistic that collaborative effects of efforts of the three arms of government in ensuring openness and accountability can put Nigeria on a good pedestal and enable her attain her place in the comity of nations where corruption is despised.

    “The two Public Accounts Committees (PACs) (of the National Assembly) should draw up time table for clearing backlogs of audit reports.

    Read also: Promissory Notes: NASS approved figures sent by Executive for Delta, Taraba States, says Saraki

    “Accountability has to do with stewardship while openness is important because nothing is hidden, a situation that makes corruption impossible.”

    Ayine, who stressed the need for a paradigm shift in the country, noted that the National Assembly could lead the way in being transparent through a demonstration of public accountability in handling its affairs, including finances.

    He noted that “transparency allows access to information, reinforces accountability and makes corruption difficult to be successfully perpetrated because corruption is usually a hidden affair.”

    The AGF insisted that the Public Accounts committees should ensure timely consideration of audit reports as well as take a dim view of late responses to audit queries by ministries, departments and agencies.

    For the AGF, public accountability will be greatly enhanced, if those in public positions begin to see governance as a social contract for the people they represent and realise that they are responsible to the public.

  • Lagos Speaker, monarch greet governor-elect, lawmakers

    Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker and Chairman of Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria Mudashiru Obasa and Elegushi of Ikate Kingdom Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi have sent a message of congratulation to the state governor-elect, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, on their victory at the just-concluded governorship election.

    The Speaker also felicitated with returning and new members-elect of the state House of Assembly for what he described as “hard-earned but well deserved victory at the polls”.

    Obasa’s message was contained in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Musbau Rasak.

    “It was tough for us all, but at the end of the day, a well-deserved victory for all members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a confirmation of the love Lagosians have for our great party and the giant strides we have been achieving in the state,” he said.

    The Lagos Assembly Speaker expressed appreciation to Nigerians, particularly Lagosians, for reposing and renewing their confidence in the APC in Lagos State and also at the federal level.

    Also Oba Elegushi congratulated the governor-elect, describing his victory as a vote for continuation of good governance.

    In a statement from the Elegushi’s Palace, the monarch said with the overwhelming votes secured by the APC candidate, Lagosians have made their choice, which is to see more of the developmental strides witnessed in the State since 1999.