The Nation Newspaper

Tag: national assembly

  • Six caught stealing diesel at National Assembly

    Six caught stealing diesel at National Assembly

    Six people were yesterday arrested for stealing large quantities of diesel belonging to the National Assembly.

    The incident took place at the National Assembly complex, Abuja, early yesterday.

    A source said six culprits were caught while one escaped.

    Two of the culprits were said to be National Assembly workers.

    The workers were said to have coordinated the operation and invited their collaborators from outside.

    Those involved were said to have arrived the complex about 4.20 am and proceeded to the area where diesel is stored.

    They were said to have arrived the complex in a Golf car, led by the insiders.

    Sources said they scooped over 11 25-litre jerry cans of diesel.

    The police have launched  an investigation into the incident.

    The source said those caught might know about the disappearance of diesel from the storage tanks.

  • Six held for stealing National Assembly diesel

    Six people were Tuesday arrested for stealing large quantities of diesel belonging to the National Assembly.

    The incident took place at the National Assembly complex, Abuja in the early hours of Tuesday.

    A source said that six of culprits were caught in the act while one escaped.

    Two of the culprits were said to be National Assembly staff while the other four came from outside the complex.

    The National Assembly staff were said to have coordinated the operation and invited their collaborator from outside the National Assembly said to be more experience in stealing diesel and other petroleum products.

    Those involved were said to have arrived the National Assembly complex around 4.20am and immediately proceded to the area where diesel is stored.

    They were said to have arrived the complex in a Gulf car led by the National Assembly staff.

    They were reported to have scooped over 11 25liter jerry cans of diesel before they were caught.

    The police is said to have launched full investigation into the incident to ascertain whether there were other National Assembly staff collaborators.

    The source said that it is believed that those caught might be behind the mysterious disappearance of diesel from the storage tanks.

  • Senate receives 2017 MTEF

    Senate receives 2017 MTEF

    President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday forwarded the 2017-2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) to the Senate for consideration and approval.

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki read the memo containing the fiscal document on the floor of the Senate Tuesday.

    The MTEF and FSP lay the framework for the 2017 budget which members of the National Assembly are expected to debate and approve to pave the way for the presentation of the budget.

    President Buhari in the memo said that he is pleased to submit the 2017-2019 MTEF and FSP to the National Assembly.

    The memo read in part, “Let me use this medium to express my gratitude for the enduring partnership between the legislative and the executive arms of government.

    “In particular, I note with appreciation the commitment and support that distinguished senators have continued to demonstrate with respect to the preparation, passage and implementation of the federal budget.

    “Pursuant to provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007, the preparation towards the submission of the 2017 budget to the National Assembly is progressing well.

    “The MTEF and FSP which provides the framework for the development of the 2017 budget was designed against the backdrop of a generally advanced global economic environment as well as fiscal challenges in domestic economy.

    “In this regard the 2017-2019 MTEF and FSP articulates the Federal Government economic, socio and developmental objectives as well as the strategies for achieving this divine objectives and priorities.

    “I hereby forward the 2017-2019 MTEF and FSP to the distinguished Senate and trust that it will be kindly considered expeditiously and approved so as to move the 2017 Federal Budget process forward.”

  • National Assembly warms up for budget reforms

    National Assembly warms up for budget reforms

    BUDGET reform took the center stage once again during the week. The event was a gallery colloquium on budget matters. The increasing focus on budget reform by the National Assembly may be understandable considering the importance of the budget in the life of a country.

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, saw the need for immediate reform of the budget process apparently because of the near fiasco that attended the 2016 Budget.

    Saraki quickly moved to inaugurate a Budget Reform Committee empanelled to articulate ways and means to widen the budget process and make the fiscal document work.

    Director-General National Institute for Legislative Studies, Dr. Ladi Hamalai, who is also a member of Saraki’s Budget Reform Committee, followed up with a round table on budget reform, National Assembly and the appropriation process.

    For Hamalai, the economic development challenges that have bedeviled the country are partly traceable to the quality of public finance management. The DG believes the management of annual budget, medium term expenditure framework and fiscal strategy and development plans have been marred by high level of inefficiency, ineffectiveness and lack of transparency.

    Conveners of the Gallery Colloquium, OrderPaper.Ng, an independent online portal conceived to report with bias for the legislature, felt the need to seek a way forward for the country’s frequent annual budget debacle. The theme of the event, “Budget as a tool for accelerated economic development in Nigeria,” encapsulated the thinking of conveners of the colloquium. It was a gathering of stakeholders from the executive, legislature and civil society organisations.

    With the much abused 2016 Budget gradually running out its time frame and the heightened expectation for the presentation of the 2017 Appropriation Bill by President Muhammadu Buhari, time may have come for members of the National Assembly to walk their talk.

    Interestingly, the incalculable damage and embarrassment the National Assembly suffered following allegations of missing and padded budget may have forced the National Assembly leadership to embrace the call for a sweeping budget reform.

    Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, who was at the colloquium, said it is clearly evident, the legislature is unquestionably at the heart of the budget process, not only in the country but in all countries practicing presidential democracy.

    The budget, Dogara said, is a compendium of “who gets what, when and how” which involves essentially allocation and distribution of available resources among competing sectors and demands.

    Talking about the role of the legislature in the budget process, Dogara said recent events have brought to the fore the extent of the powers of the National Assembly with respect to the budget process.

    Many commentators, including lawyers, he said, have contended that the power of the National Assembly is restricted to examining the budget and making corrections where necessary while others believe that the appropriation power enables the National Assembly to reduce but not to increase expenditure and that the legislature lacks power to introduce new items into the budget.

     A close examination of the constitution, he pointed out shows otherwise. He submitted that those who contend that the National Assembly cannot increase the budget but can only reduce it are trying to import the British Parliamentary law into a Presidential system of government.

    In addition, he said, if the Constitution intended that the National Assembly should not have power to increase a budget item, it should have said so.”

    The Speaker reflected with nostalgia that a review of how annual budgets or Appropriation Bills have been prepared and executed in the country since 1999 will reveal an unsatisfactory state of affairs.

    Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who was also at the colloquium did not agree with Dogara less.

    Ekweremadu submitted that the greatest culprit in the issue of budget process is the time frame in which budgets are presented to the National Assembly.

    He believed that whatever budget reform that needed to be done must address the problem of time frame for the presentation of the Appropriation Bill first.

    He said, “The American Congress has a period of eight to 10 months sometimes to consider the American budget. Technically, we have only one day to consider it because under the constitution, the President can present the budget on the last day of December and you expect the budget to start the first day of January. So, that means you have less than 24 hours to pass it.

    The Deputy Senate President also raised the issue of public hearing. He said, “I attended a United Nations workshop in 2012 and the issue of budget came up. There was a statistics on the rating of the budgetary process of various countries. Nigeria was one of the least rated. The reason is that we are one of the few countries that did not subject our budget to public hearing. But going forward, the National Assembly must subject the Appropriation Bill to public hearing.

    It makes it impossible for the National Assembly to interrogate the budget properly. In 2008 when Musa Yar’Adua was the President, he brought the budget early enough and we decided to interrogate certain MDAs. So, if we have enough time, the National Assembly will have sufficient time to also interrogate the budget properly, so that what we are witnessing now will be a thing of the past.”

    One of the panelists at the event, Senator Chris Anyanwu, blamed the problem on lack of synergy in the budget process.

    Anyanwu believed that discussion on the budget most often than not tends to be emotional because most commentators speak to please the Executive.

    She submitted that the Executive should understand that the Legislature has a responsibility over money bill.

    It was the thinking of some participants that a situation where the budget estimates are made and the government begins to look for ways to fund the budget is not healthy.

  • Buhari gives conditions for passage of budget

    Buhari gives conditions for passage of budget

    Indications emerged Monday that President Muhammadu Buhari may not assent to Appropriation bill passed by the National Assembly unless the schedule of detail of the budget was duly passed on the floor of both chamber of the National Assembly.

    The tradition of passing the budget in the National Assembly is for lawmakers to pass the summary without the details of the budget on the floor while the details were handled by the Appropriation Committees that would forward it separately to the President for assent.

    The disclosure was made by Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly (Senate), Sen. Ita Enang at a colloquium on Budget Matters in Abuja during the unveiling of OrderPaper.ng.

    The multi – media platform is dedicated to reporting the legislature.

    Enang, in his goodwill message assured that with the controversies that trailed the 2016 budget, the President Buhari is determined to ensure that the 2017 budget does not suffer the same faith.

    He said the Presidency is set to put in measure that will ensure that the process is no longer exposed to manipulation.

    According to him, the reform has more to do with the National Assembly, saying, “We will reform the budget process when it is completely passed on the floor if the National Assembly.

    “The bill will be signed by the President when the bill and its schedule is brought and passed on the floor along with the details of the bill.

    “All these must be reflected on vote’s ad proceedings of the two Chambers and certified for the President to assent”.

    Enang, a former Senator said the tradition seems to have delegated the power to pass the Appropriation Bill to the Appropriation Committee which should not be the norm.

    The emphasis, according to him is that the summary and the details of the budget must be passed on the floor.

    However, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremade took exception to the comment on the deligation of power to pass the budget to the Appropriation Committees.

    He said the National Assembly does not relinquish the passage of the schedule of the budget to the Appropriation Committees.

    “What the Appropriation Committees does is to sign all the page of the document before transmission to the President,” he said.

    He however preferred way forward on how to make the budget process more responsive, saying time of submission of the bill is a major culprit.

    He asked the Presidency to address the time the budget estimate is submitted to the National Assembly first because it has always been an impediment to thorough examination of the document by the lawmakers.

    He suggested a reduction of period the President can spend to three months instead of the current six month before presidential assent.

    According to him, once the Executive is aware that it has just three months to spend before the budget is passed,  submission of the budget for the next year would be expedited.

    He also advised that the budget process should be subjected to public hearing at the National Assembly to enable Nigerians have a say in its preparation.

    “Most of the challenges we always have on the budget is that it was not always presented early”.

  • NASS ready to review health laws, says Rep

    The Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Health Care Services, Muhammad Musa Bello, on Monday said the National Assembly is ready to review, amend and pass new laws to improve health care services in Nigeria.

    Mr. Bello spoke at the 2nd international public health conference with the theme: “Trending Issues in Public Health Services Delivery” in Abuja.

    The programme was organized by the Faculty of Health Sciences, National Open University of Nigeria, Abuja.

    Bello lamented the poor budgetary allocation to the health sector by the Federal Government.

    According to him, the 4.13 per cent allocation this year means the sector would face challenges to provide health care services to Nigerians.

    He said: “Malaria is still a major disease in Nigeria because many Nigerians are dying from it. Millions of Nigerians are dying every day from various diseases. This is a challenge to us and the government.

    “There are other major challenges facing the health sector. Issue of low budget is one of them. Budgetary allocation to the sector is not enough if you compare it with what is given to the sector by other African countries.

    “The budgetary allocation to the sector this year is 4.13 %. With this you will agree with me that we are facing a major challenge.

    “The Eight National Assembly has taken health as a major agenda issue. We are ready at all times to review and amend existing laws and pass new ones to improve the healthcare services in Nigeria.”

     In his address, a former Director General, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Prof. John Idoko, called on the Federal Government to modernize infectious disease surveillance to drive public health action.

    Prof. Idoko who delivered a keynote address titled: “Containing the spread of Infectious Diseases: How prepared are we? over 70 per cent of human pathogens originated from animals.

    The former NACA DG, who is also a Prof of Medicine and Consultant Physician at the University of Jos, called for the expansion of the role of public health and clinical laboratories in disease control and prevention.

    He said: “Over 70 per cent of human pathogens originated from animals. Of the 1,461 diseases now recognized in humans, approximately 60% are due to multi-host pathogens characterized by their movement across species lines.

    “We now stand at the precipice of health care transformation where disease prevention and health promotion in people, animals, and our environment have become a critical strategic need.

    “Expand the role of public health and clinical laboratories in disease control and prevention. Advance workforce development and training to sustain and strengthen public health practice. Advance policies to improve prevention, detection, and control of infectious diseases to help integrate clinical infectious disease preventive practices into healthcare;

    “Increase community and individual engagement in disease prevention efforts; Strengthen global capacity to detect and respond to outbreaks with the potential to cross borders.”

     

  • ‘Nigerians have poor perception about National Assembly’

    ‘Nigerians have poor perception about National Assembly’

    Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, a former member of the House of Representatives, is the leader of ‘Initiatives,’ a group dedicated to the cause of parliamentary ethos and renewal. He spoke with reporters in Lagos about the controversy over budget padding in the Lower Chamber and how the mishandling of the crisis may create perception problems for the legislators. EMMANUEL OLADESU was there.

    What is your reaction to the controversy in the House of Representatives over allegations of budget padding?

    The difference between democracy and military government is the existence of the rule of law. The rule of law primarily is the dividend of democracy and not necessarily the construction of roads or building of houses because the military government also constructs roads. What democracy brings is the liberty and the inherent freedom and rights. That means that, without the rule of law, there can be no democracy. And where is the rule of law domiciled? Iit is domiciled in Section 4, sub-section 1, which has vested in the legislative powers of the Federal republic of Nigeria in a National Assembly consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives.

    So, appropriation is part and parcel of that legislative process. It is a law that originates from that legislative power. The primary functions of the legislature is, of course, the issues of legislation, appropriation and oversight. The constitution is intended for the people to participate in consonance with Article 25 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. Participation is very key. And how does the constitution or democracy encourage participation?  It is encouraged by making the legislature to be at its best. For example, no law should be passed without going through the legislative processes like first, second and third readings as well as committees stage and public hearing.

    To what level does the people’s input count in the legislative process?

    The intention of all the readings, the committee stage and the public hearing is to allow the people to participate. The people’s input is part of the legislative process. So, the responsibility of lawmaking can never be complete without the peoples’ participation. When the budget proposal is brought, the executive will engage the legislature and the legislature, through its various committees, will reach out to the people.

    The importance of the legislature is so strong to the point that, if the processes are not followed, we are inviting anarchy because the executive will sit down and say that it is going to construct road and the president will cash in on this to construct road in his state or zone; the vice president will put project in his area and the ministers will put projects in their respective areas. But, for you and I, who may not have the opportunity of having any of these persons, we will have to wait for our turn. And if by providence, you end up coming from a minority, you will wait for a longer time. So, the only thing that democracy has brought to us is the issue of constituency projects or zonal intervention.

    But, most Nigerians are not disposed to issue of constituency projects as it is seen as an avenue for the legislators to enrich themselves…

    The issue here is not the zonal intervention or the semantics of whether it is constituency or zonal intervention. The issue is its relevance or impact on the generality of the people. That does not take the fact there may not be indiscretions and abuses. But, must we throw away the baby with the birth water? The answer is no. So, what I am trying to say is that the Nigerian public is having poor perception of the institution of the legislature.

    I am not speaking on behalf of the Speaker, Hon. YakubuDogara, or the former Chairman of the Appropriation Committee, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin. I am talking about the institution. If we allow an individual to bring down an institution that protects and preserves my right and your right, my liberty and your liberty; we have ended up at denying ourselves the opportunity to participate in governance. When appropriation takes place, the executive does the implementation. But, if a project is appropriated for and its implementation fails, then, an offence has been committed. The question is: was fund allocated for the project and why was it not executed? That comes to the principle of law that says that for a crime to be committed, the intention and act must be in marriage.

    There are calls in some quarters for an investigation into the budget scandal. What is your reaction?  

    You cannot investigate an Appropriation Act because appropriation in itself is an assumptive document because you can’t have a 100 per cent execution of these assumptions because it is just to guide government on the implementation of its policies and programmes. I think that it is the outcome of that perception problem to single out an individual in an institutional process. Majority of Nigerians are still living with that illusion that there should be no legislature.

    The thinking is that the legislators are not doing anything, but stealing from the nation’s treasury. But, we have forgotten that the legislature is what has given us the liberty we have today. To say that we should do away with the legislature means that we no longer cherish our liberty. Are we now saying that members of the legislature should go? We will be weakening our rights of expression if we do that. We must preserve the institutional integrity of the National Assembly, particularly the House of Representatives. While the Senate is the representation of the states on equality basis, the House of Representatives is about population and anything that affects the House, affects Nigeria.

    Are you absolving the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the allegations raised by the former Appropriation Committee chairman?

    The Speaker of the House, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, is a humble man to a fault. I will give you an example. He was the Chairman of Customs Committee in 2007, when I was the spokesman of the House. So, most of the times, I was obliged by the then speaker to participate in public hearings, so that I can feed him back. In the course of this, there was this issue of waivers for importers of rice and $3 million was brought by one of the companies involved, but Dogara placed it on the table and told members of the committee that the money was brought so that the committee will overlook certain things.

    He, however, washed his hands off the money and asked however wanted to take it to do so. So, when I read in the papers about Dogara’s involvement in corruption and all that, I said to myself that fraudulent attitude is a lifestyle which one gets into when one lives a lifestyle beyond ones means. But,  Dogara is not a man I know for that. I also asked: is the same man who washed his hands off $3 million and every other member of his committee ran away from the money and it was returned; is he the same man we are talking about in budget padding when every member of the House has the statutory responsibility to contribute to and by the provisions of the constitution, that input include to add, subtract, increase, decrease or even delete.

    What is the way out of the impasse?

    The House of Representatives requires character, depth and somebody who has a reform-minded pedigree; somebody who can sit back and do a proper assessment of his person and the institution and now device a means of adding value to the institution. And if you ask me, even when I am not a member and may not be a Dogara fan because I am quite aggressive, while he is humble to a fault, I will tell you that he has capacity and he has actually added value to that institution. And I think that we are making a mistake by not encouraging that development initiative.

    We must encourage potential leaders because what is going on now in the House will make some Nigerians believe that going into politics will ruin their reputation. Most Nigerians know a lot about this budget padding thing, but they don’t want to come out because of the public’s perception on the issue. Let us take Dogara and Jibrin out of it and begin to look at how we can develop the legislature by educating the public on the relevance of the institution.

    What is your reaction to the move by the anti-corruption agencies to wade into the matter?

    I have heard by way of speculation that the anti-graft agencies – the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC)-is stepping into the matter. But, by the last law I read about the EFCC, it is statutorily empowered to deal with economic and financial crimes, while that of ICPC deals with public officers. I don’t have any problem with the powers they have, but under the Legislative Houses Powers and Privileges Act, can a legislator in the course of exercising his responsibilities as empowered in Section 4(1) be investigated and prosecuted.

  • National Assembly adjourns sitting over member’s death

    National Assembly adjourns sitting over member’s death

    Resumption of plenary by the National Assembly after eights week recess failed on Tuesday following announcement of the death of a member of the House of Representatives, Mr Elijah Oluwatayo (APC-Lagos).

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the aborted resumption was to mark the beginning of the second legislative year of the 8th assembly.

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, while reading a letter from the family of the deceased, said that Oluwatayo died on July 20, 2016, at the age of 66.

    Dogara also announced the death of three former members of the House – Muhammed Useni, Alex Eze and Etim Atakpa.

    He said that Useni represented Makarfi Federal Constituency of Kaduna state from 1999 to 2003, while Eze represented Nsukka/Igboeze Constituency of Enugu state within the same period.

    He said Atakpa represented Ikot Ekpene/Essien Udim/Obot Akara Federal constituency of Akwa Ibom from 1992 to 1993 on the platform of the defunct National Republican Convention.

    “As a serving member is involved, and as the tradition of the House demands, we have to adjourn sitting till Wednesday to honour the deceased,’’ Dogara said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the House of Representatives in the 8th National Assembly has recorded four deaths of members since inauguration in June, 2015.

  • National Assembly shifts resumption

    National Assembly shifts resumption

    The National Assembly yesterday postponed the resumption of its two chambers, from September 13 to September 20, 2016.

    The need to allow senators and members of the House of Representatives observe the Eid-El-Kabir celebrations was said to have informed the shift.

    National Assembly Clerk Alhaji Mohammed Sani-Omolori, in a statement, urged federal lawmakers comply with the September 20 date.

    Omolori’s two-paragraphs statement: “Postponement of resumption date,’’ reads: “This is to inform senators and members of the National Assembly that the resumption date has been rescheduled from Tuesday, September 13, 2016, to Tuesday, September 20, 2016.

    “All members are, by this notice, requested to resume sitting in plenary on Tuesday, September 20, 2016, by 10 am prompt”

     

  • Ex-lawmakers make case for National Assembly

    A group, Initiatives, has called for the sustenance of the integrity of the National Assembly as one of the key institutions of democracy.

    The group called for the support of stakeholders for the legislature in the performance of its functions, including legislation, appropriation and oversight, warning that any blackmail against the institution could derail its vision and undermine its capacity for function performance.

    Its leader, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, told reporters in Lagos that the controversy surrounding the passage of this year’s budget has culminated in the “padding debate,” which he lamented has eroded the perception of the people about the budgetary process.

    Initiatives is a group of former members of the House of Representatives dedicated to ideals of probity, transparency and sustenance of the integrity of the parliament. It has promoted debate on the controversial Land Use Act and its impact on the push for the diversification of the economy. The group has also lent its voice to the fight against graft in high places.

    Eyiboh said honest Nigerians are shying away from offering constructive comments on the ‘padding controversy’  because of the public perception, which is wrong. He said while the public already has a negative perception about the National Assembly, the country should not allow an individual to bring down the institution.

    The former legislator said Sections 80 and 81 of the 1999 Constitution empowers the National Assembly to pass the budget laid before it by the President, adding that the process cannot be completed without the participation of the people through the public hearing.

    He said the executive arm can put many projects in the budget, the legislators, through the National Assembly can also attract projects to their constituencies.