Governors elected on the platform of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) have expressed concern over the incessant crises rocking the National Assembly and have promised to intervene in the matter.
They made the resolution yesterday after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in his office at the presidential villa, Abuja. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was also in attendance.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the closed-door meeting, Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, said the APC governors had resolved to mediate in the issues at the National Assembly due to its critical role in the nation's democracy.
He averred that the nation needs a strong and vibrant National Assembly at this time to move faster in terms of development.
“We are concerned about the incessant happenings in the National Assembly and we have taken it upon ourselves to look into the matter. We are going to look into the matter because we need a strong, vibrant national assembly to make things move fast in the country.”
This is coming on the heels of the recent budget padding scandal in the House of Representatives involving principal officers of the House.
LEADERSHIP recalls that the Senate has also been rocked by crisis, with its president, Bukola Saraki, and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, facing forgery charges.
Saraki is also facing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for alleged false declaration of assets.
It was also gathered that an impeachment move against Buhari, was mooted by the Senate during its executive session a fortnight ago, an allegation that had been denied by the Senate leader, Ali Ndume.
Okorocha, who is also the chairman of APC Governors Forum, also reaffirmed the commitment of the governors to President Buhari's anti-corruption war and the fight against insurgency.
“We have come to reassure Mr President that the APC governors are solidly behind him, in his fight against corruption, his fight against insurgents and all his laudable projects,” he said.
While speaking on the current state of the economy in the states, the governor contended that there had been a lot of improvements. He noted that what the states now receive in federal allocation is close to what they were getting when oil was above $100 a barrel, “this means this government is doing a lot.”
He added that, “we are not yet there but we are getting there. We appeal to Nigerians to be patient with this government because it means well about the welfare of our people.”
Okorocha also spoke on the criticism of the governors' planned trip to Germany.
“There is nothing like jamboree trip; we are going to Germany because we cannot do everything here without exchanging ideas.
“Everything you do in your home, your business, you share ideas. So, we want to see how they have done what they have done to succeed. It is the aspiration of Nigeria to be like other countries in the world,” he clarified.
Meanwhile, the budget padding crisis in the House of Representatives deepened yesterday as the House and its erstwhile appropriations committee chairman, Hon Abdulmumini Jibrin, traded accusations over the matter.
The House also called on anti-graft agencies to investigate the activities of the embattled lawmaker as chairman of the Committee on Finance in the 7th Assembly.
The House also alleged that Jibrin had initially inflated the budget by adding about N250 billion to the total figure submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Spokesperson of the House, Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas, who revealed this yesterday at a press conference, also disclosed that Jibrin was removed as the chairman of the committee because of his sundry acts of misconduct, competence and abuse of the budgetary process.
According to Namdas, during an investigation, the leadership of the House discovered that Jibrin discreetly allocated monies for projects not clearly defined in the budget.
“The leadership was in receipt of complaints about his activities as chairman of Finance Committee in the 7th Assembly, which had the potential to embarrass the House.
“Investigations found that from 2011-2015, Hon. Jibrin domiciled with Hadeija-Jama'are River Basin Authority and few other MDAs some of the allocations meant for his former finance committee members. He was alleged have aided the use of front companies that collected funds without executing most of the projects,” he said.
Namdas also noted that the former chairman mismanaged the 2016 budgetary process, adding that his mishandling of the budget process almost strained the cordial relationship between the executive and the legislature.
“It was also discovered that the former chairman discreetly and clandestinely allocated monies for projects that are not clearly in the budget, for the purposes of exploiting the ambiguities for personal gains. Furthermore, he was found to be responsible for some bogus allocations in the budget for projects that have no locations and were apparently never meant to be executed.
“Hon Jibrin's mishandling of the 2016 budget process nearly fractured the otherwise cordial relationship between the executive and the legislature and brought the National Assembly and the government to public ridicule,” the lawmaker stated.
Denying Jibrin's counter-allegations on budget padding, Namdas explained that it was the constitutional right of the National Assembly to work on the budget proposals sent to them by the president, saying such work cannot be termed padding.
“The powers of the National Assembly on appropriation are clearly spelt out in section 4, 59 and 80(4) of the 1999 Constitution. Section 4 empowers the National Assembly to make laws for good governance of the Federation while section 59 confers on the legislature final say on the budget.
‘Section 80(4) on the other hand, which confers on the Legislature absolute power of control over public funds, states that ‘no money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the federation except in the manner as prescribed by the National Assembly'. The word manner confers absolute legislative discretion.
“When, therefore, the National Assembly appropriates funds in the budget, it can never, under any circumstances or guise, be deemed or regarded as tinkering or padding. The legislature is therefore constitutionally incapable of padding the budget,” Namdas maintained.
The chairman, Media and Publicity Committee, further dared Jibrin to produce credible, authentic and verifiable documents which disclose the commission of crime on the part of any member or leader of the House rather than circulating documents from dubious sources.
But Jubrin has asked the leadership of the House to address the allegations levelled against Speaker Yakubu Dogara and three others by him, instead of attacking his person.
Jibrin, while reacting to the briefing by Namdas, called for the reconvening of a plenary session to enable the House address the allegations by conducting an independent investigation of the accusations against them.
He accused Dogara and the other principal officers of giving the impression that the entire House will support and suppress corruption, adding that they have chosen to deviate from the main issue.
He said, “Rather than address the allegations of corruption against them, they are busy accusing me of immaturity and some lame and ambitious stories and compendium of lies.
“I stand by my statement that they have grossly abused their offices and public trust. Can they look at me and say same?
“Is it true that you (Dogara) left a huge mess and allegations of money laundering against you as chairman, House Services both in the 6th and 7th House? Why have you refused to open up the financial dealings and details of internal budget of the House to your colleagues, honourable members?
“Why do you have problems with reconvening the House immediately to allow for an independent investigation on the allegation?” he asked.