Posted by From BASHIR UMAR and JAMES OJO, Abuja on
A fresh crisis is currently brewing between the National Assembly and the presidency over the 2008 budget, even as another minister has been indicted for allegedly inflating his ministry's budget to the tune of N6 billion.
A fresh crisis is currently brewing between the National Assembly and the presidency over the 2008 budget, even as another minister has been indicted for allegedly inflating his ministry's budget to the tune of N6 billion.
While the Senate appears to have drawn a battle line with the executive over President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's alleged refusal to append his signature to the budget, which was passed on February 12, members of the House of Representatives are enraged at the president's alleged unconstitutional act of spending capital vote when the budget has not been signed into law.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Senator Ayogu Eze, who spoke to reporters in Abuja, said some people at the presidency were apparently misinforming the president over the 2008 budget, calling the act irresponsible.
Members of the House of Representatives, who just resumed from a three-week recess, held a closed door meeting, where they frowned at the alleged spending of over N109 million capital fund last month without recource to the National Assembly. The lawmakers have therefore summoned the Finance Minister, Dr Shamusudeen Usman, to the floor of the House on Thursday to explain the alleged constitutional breach.
Deputy Speaker, Bayero Nafada, who presided over the plenary, said Usman would appear before the joint committees on finance, due process, justice and national planning at 2.00 p.m on Thursday.
According to him, the minister will explain why the executive released the capital vote when the budget is yet to be signed into law or formally returned to the National Assembly by the Executive as laid down in the constitution.
According to Senator Eze, 'we are aware that a former minister inflated his budget with about N400 million to N6 billion, but here we are being crucified by the press for making increase in the budget for our selfish ends when it is our constitutional responsibility to make adequate provisions for our constituencies."
Pressed to mention the minister, Senator Eze, said: 'We will do that at the appropriate time, let's finish with the budget issue first."
Senator Ahmed Lawal had earlier raised a point of order (42), calling on his colleagues to take a serious decision on the bill before the situation gets out of hand.
Said he: 'Today is almost two months since the 2008 Appropriation Bill was passed by this hallowed chamber but we are still dragging the issue to the detriment of the Nigerian people, just because there is misunderstanding from the executive side."
Senator Lawal noted that the Senate had worked on all issues raised by Yar'Adua and wonder why the budget is yet to be passed.
'This act is slowing down the economic activities of this country," he said.
Senate President, David Mark, however, pleaded with his colleagues for patience, saying that the presidency had invited the leadership of the National Assembly for a crucial meeting, which was scheduled for yesterday's evening.
'It is only reasonable that we wait and hear from the executive so that we could be better positioned to take a decision on this matter in the next legislative day," he stated.
After a one-hour closed-door session, however, some of the Senators could not hold back their anger against the presidency, as according to them, Nigerians who elected them have been at the receiving end of the consequences brought about by the delay in signing the bill into law.
Senator Smart Adeyemi, while criticizing the President, noted: 'While Mr. President is free to manage the economy satisfactorily, the legislature is also responsible for not only making laws but also providing adequate funds for our collective constituencies."
Also speaking, Senator Kabiru Gaya indicated that Nigerians were getting impatient with the situation, noting that the National Assembly and the Presidency have the responsibility of getting the budget passed into law. 'We would get our hands washed as responsible lawmakers and that we must do within the shortest time possible," he stated.
In the House, opposition leader, Hon Ali Ndume had raised a point of order to draw attention of the House to newspaper reports castigating the National Assembly for padding the budget, which made the president not to sign the document into law.
Relying on Order 5 of the House rule, Ndume said that the nation's newspapers is awash with reports accusing the National Assembly of padding the budget.
Ndume, who refused to be calmed down by the presiding officer, said that it was not proper for the president of the nation to use the media to reply to the National Assembly on any matter, not to talk of issues bordering on budget.
Speaking in the same vein, Hon Bala Ibn Na'Allah, chairman of the committee on Judiciary, however, felt worried that the whole essence of parliament has been rubbished by the way the executive resorted to media campaign against the National Assembly on the budget issue.
'If we do not pass the budget for instance, the president cannot receive his salary. It is like they don't want to believe that everything depends on us. It sounds ridiculous for somebody to sit somewhere and accuse the National Assembly of tampering with the federal budget. It is wrong for anybody to think that the parliament will accept hook, line and sinker whatever the executive sends to us," he said.
Deputy Minority Leader and Action Congress [AC] leader, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila from Lagos State urged the House to invoke its constitutional powers saying 'we have all the powers to review the budget and even tear it into pieces and allocate funds to projects as deemed necessary."
He warned that the present National Assembly would never be a rubber stamp to the executive, adding that all the President wanted the lawmakers to do was to just stamp whatever he has submitted to the National Assembly.
'We are not ready to accept that, recall that it was the same National Assembly that recovered N450 billon unspent funds which the executive hid from the 2007 budget," he submitted.