The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were at each others’ throats last night, over fears that moves were afoot to impeach the current leadership of the National Assembly.
While APC lawmakers cited outstanding legislative proposals, their PDP counterparts alleged ulterior motives in the agitation, even as some of them chided the Presidency for laxity in the implementation of its legislative agenda.
The agitation for the resumption of the National Assembly was, however, rebuffed by the PDP which warned the APC not to truncate the nation’s democracy with the enthronement of its kangaroo-style siege to state legislative houses at the federal level.
Among outstanding issues cited by the Senior Special Assistant to the President (Senate), Ita Enang, last week, were 2018 virement proposals including proposals for elections, approval of borrowings to fund the 2018 Appropriation and approval of the 2018 budgets of 64 government-owned corporations. There are also outstanding appointments laid by Mr. President along with the 2018 budget, including a request for approval of appointments which will ensure the fulfilment of the purposes meant.
The two chambers of the National Assembly shut down penultimate Tuesday, following the siege to the homes of the two presiding officers of the Senate, Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
Senator Saraki escaped the siege to surface in the chamber and presided over the session during which 14 APC senators defected to the PDP and squashed alleged moves to remove him from office.
Speaking on a Channels Television programme on the eight-week recess, former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume said: “What I want to do personally is to call on the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to reconvene the Senate because we have critical matters of urgent national importance before the National Assembly.
“His closure of the National Assembly that day was unbelievable. I was shocked by the way he acted.
“The Senate is not Saraki; he is just a member of the Senate. Saraki is just a presiding officer that anybody can be, so for him to have just shut down the National Assembly because of personal issues, is very unfortunate and uncalled for, especially when you have significant matters before the Senate,” he added.
His agitation was echoed, yesterday, by Senators Abu Ibrahim and Kabiru Marafa who said yesterday that the recess should be immediately called off.
“First, the recess was done abruptly to everybody’s surprise, but I think it was done to forestall certain things.
“So, obviously we must make every effort to find time, even for a day because it is only paramount and it requires our approval because the president is a very prudent and law-abiding president; if it were previous presidents they would not even fight us, and they will do it. Even for that, we should emphasize the interest of the nation, give a day and come and sit down and pass this and send it to Mr. President.
“This is a difficult situation but let me use some connections that I have within the National Assembly and see if we can be able to come back. In the next one or two weeks, we would be pushing and see how it goes.”
Also speaking, Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (downstream), Senator Kabiru Marafa, APC, Zamfara Central said: “I am absolutely in support that we should reconvene as there are pressing national issues as enumerated by the leadership especially as the majority in the Senate and that is why we are elected.
“There is nothing bad about us coming back; attend to the issues and go back. I agree that we are on a lawful break which we are entitled to, but the law did not say that we cannot resume and attend to issues of national importance and we go back to continue with the break.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has to conduct the elections. It is only natural we reconvene and address the issues and go back for a holiday.”
The calls were, however, dismissed by PDP senators. Senator Matthew Urhoghide (PDP, Edo South) said: “Is it today that they knew INEC would need money to conduct the election? The executive knew that the National Assembly would go on its annual recess like the judiciary, why is the executive blaming the legislature now? Why did they not bring the INEC budget two or three months ago? Why now when they knew that we would go on break? Instead of doing that on time, they were pursuing their selfish agenda of changing the leadership of the Senate.”
Senator Samuel Anyanwu (PDP, Imo East) said: “We are on recess, and it is allowed. After a long journey or battle, you go on recess. I thought they said the senators don’t do anything; they don’t work, they just go there and eat money. Now we have to rest, and most of us are out of the country for various reasons while some are in their constituencies politicking.
“But if there is a serious issue that requires urgent attention that will help the country to move forward, that will make Nigerians happy, why not? We are there, they elected us, they will recall us, and we could come and do the right thing. Of course, we know we would have concluded most things if not for the fact that there was a parliamentary coup which did not succeed and we have to go back and re-strategise.”
Members of the House of Representatives were equally divided along partisan lines with the PDP members rebuffing entreaties of the APC lawmakers.
“They want us to reconvene to cause further crisis”, says Aliyu Madaki (PDP, Kano).
Madaki, who recently defected from the APC to the PDP, said yesterday: “We are on recess and it is an annual ritual we always fulfil. They want us to reconvene so that they can cause further crisis but we are very ready for them.”
On the supplementary budget, he said: “We saw it before we went on recess and we can always look at it when we resume; if it is not in good taste, we will return it to them immediately.
“There is an ulterior motive behind the call, says Kingsley Ogundu Chinda, (PDP, Rivers), Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts.
Chinda said: “There must be an ulterior motive behind the call to reconvene the National Assembly, but we’ll surprise them.
“And if I may ask, for what purpose are we reconvening? If it is because of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, budget why did the executive fail to include it in the 2019 Appropriation?” he wondered.
“But whatever they are plotting, we’ll surprise them and make what is on the ground for now a child’s play as we are sure they will not succeed with their selfish intentions.
“Since we are here to represent our people, if it becomes mandatory, we may reconvene, but if they attempt anything funny, we’ll surprise them.”
“There’s no emergency to warrant reconvening of NASS”, adds Solomon Maren (PDP, Plateau).
Maren on his part said that “there’s no problem with the National Assembly reconvening if the need arises but, at the moment, there is no emergency to warrant reconvening.
“Dissident members or Senators cannot make us reconvene because if this happens, it will mean we are giving credence to their misbehaviour.
“The National Assembly and indeed legislative conventions do not allow activities of parliament to be controlled by emotions, rather on rules and constitutional provisions.”
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondinyan stated yesterday that the APC should not toy with the idea of enthroning what it yesterday described as its kangaroo-style tactics operated at the state level at the national level.
The party spokesman said doing such could truncate the nation’s democracy.
He said: “The decision to either reconvene the Senate or not, lies with the President of the Senate and you don’t just wake up as a senator from the right side of the bed or from the left side of the bed and jump out and say, come out and open the Senate.
“There must be a matter of urgent national importance. There must be such urgent national importance for you to open the Senate.
“And we want to warn APC. If they think that the kind of kangaroo processes that they adopt in the states can be done in the National Assembly, they will put the polity under unnecessary pressure and will truncate this democracy.
“PDP will not accept any underhand measure from the APC on the issues of the National Assembly where there are rules and the constitution that guide the operations of the National Assembly.
“The National Assembly is not a kangaroo assembly where they can deploy police to go and shut down. They will just truncate this democracy,” the PDP spokesman warned yesterday. – Vanguard.
