No allocation for fuel subsidy as Senate passes 2015 budget

                                      

THE Senate yesterday passed a N4.5 trillion budget for 2015 without making any provision for fuel subsidy. Of the N4,493,363,957,158 that was passed, N375,616,60 was designated as statutory transfer vote, N953,620,60 allocated for debt service, N2,607,132,491,708 as recurrent non-debt expenditure and N144,420,000,000 for capital expenditure.
Last week, the House of Representatives had passed the same figures for the 2015 Appropriation.  The budget as passed yesterday by the Senate gave the education sector the highest recurrent allocation of N392,363,784,654, followed by defence with N338,797,219,431.
Others are Police Formation and Commands, which has a total recurrent allocation of N303,822,224,611 and the health sector which has N237,075,742,847 as recurrent allocation.
For capital expenditure, defence topped the table with N36,700,000,000, followed by the Office of the National Security Adviser, which got N26,499,999,999.
Passing the Bill into law, President of the Senate, David Mark, prayed that it would be implemented by whosoever would be responsible for implementation.
Some senators, especially those of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in their reactions, described it as the worst budget ever. Olubunmi Adetunmbi (Ekiti North) said the budget would pose a serious challenge to the incoming administration and that there is likelihood that it would be returned in the form of a supplementary budget in line with APC manifesto . According to him, the overhead must be trimmed down to come to terms with the reality on ground.
For Ayogu Eze (PDP Enugu), d however, all hopes are not lost. According to him, “the budget is not as gloomy as predicted, especially with the gradual rise in the price of crude oil in the international market.”
Chairman of the Senate Joint Committee on Appropriation and Finance, Ahmad Maccido, stated that in preparing the details of the 2015 Appropriation Bill, the panel adopted a benchmark price of $53 per barrel of crude oil based on the recommendation of the Conference Committee on Medium Term Expenditure Framework/Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP).
“The committee also adopted the executive proposal of crude oil production of 2.2782 million barrels per day and an exchange rate of N190 to $1,” Maccido said.  On his part, Senator Ahmad Lawan expressed regret that the budget was passed in the fourth month of the year against constitutional provisions.
“The constitutional provision is that we should have even passed the budget before now, but due to the exigencies of this period, we have just passed it and we have done our constitutional duty very well.”
President Goodluck Jonathan had in December 2014 transmitted a budget proposal of N4.4 trillion at the exchange rate of N165 to a dollar to the National Assembly through the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Shortly before the Senate embarked on Christmas holidays, it received from the executive the revised crude oil benchmark of $65 per barrel for consideration and approval.
The benchmark has been revised twice from $85 and $75 per barrel respectively.   Although the wobbling crude oil price could be partially blamed for the delay in the passage of the budget, much of the legislative time was spent on partisan politics rather than governance.

Speakership Tussle: Gbajabiamila, Ogor, Dogara top list of aspirants

                                    The tussle for the Speaker of the 8th House of Representatives has thrown up three notable lawmakers for the post that will be vacated in June by Aminu Tambuwal.
The lawmakers are a three-time returnee and former Chairman, House Committee on Customs,   Yakubu Dogara; incumbent Minority Leader,   Femi Gbajabiamila,   and the current Deputy House Leader,   Leo Ogor.
While Dogara (Bauchi State) and Gbajabiamila (Lagos State) are members of the All Progressives Congress, Ogor (Delta State) is of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Gbajabiamila, a four-time returnee lawmaker , was the deputy House minority leader till the end of the 2007-2011 term. He emerged as minority leader in 2011.
A lawyer, Gbajabiamila, is credited by his colleagues for his “oratory and erudite approach” to debates in the House, which gave the opposition loud presence in the outgoing session.
Dogara, also a lawyer, is reputed to be the “inside research hand and intellect”, who assisted many House committees to successfully conclude major assignments referred to them since 2007.
Ogor, though the deputy House leader, functioned more as the majority leader, helping to direct the course of debates for the PDP, whose sitting Leader in the House is Mulikat Akande-Adeola.
Investigations by The PUNCH on Monday showed that all three lawmakers had initiated contacts with many members and had set up campaign groups to actualise their plans.
Findings indicated that Gbajabiamila was originally considered to step into the position of the majority leader “naturally, “ with the APC assuming full majority control of the House after the March 28 polls.
However, he was said to have been pressured to vie for the speakership after it became apparent that the North would have the President (North-West) and the Senate President (North-Central or North-East).
A source close to the minority leader’s camp, said, “Gbajabiamila is the best material from the South-West in terms of legislative experience and House leadership at the moment.
“The South-West has the Vice-President, but since the South-South and South-East have shut themselves out in a way, it becomes necessary for the South-West to take up the speakership.
“The North has President and they will also take the Senate President ; so?”
However, The PUNCH learnt that Dogara’s backers want him to have the seat because the “North-East suffered marginalisation” since 2011.
One of his confidants in the House said, “Dogara sacrificed his ambition to be deputy speaker in 2011, which ended up with Emeka Ihedioha (South-East) assuming the seat.
“Now, it is his turn to be speaker. The North-East didn’t get key elective political posts since 2011, so if the zone produces the speaker and even the senate president, we are just balancing up the equation.
“In any case, the senate president is most likely going to be a North-Central position.”
Findings on Monday also revealed that Ogor, though a member of the PDP, was already reminding his reelected colleagues that the speakership was not a party position.
He said, “The position of speaker is about who has the knowledge of the job; not about a particular political party.
“It is not even a matter for zoning, which is not recognised by our laws. This is going to be an almost new House, which will require the administrative skills of someone like Ogor to manage without rancour.’’
Ogor’s backers made reference to 2011 when Tambuwal emerged as the speaker in defiance of   the PDP, which had zoned the position to the South-West.
They argued that the House backed Tambuwal not necessarily because he was from the majority party, but because of his “experience, quality, leadership abilities and good rapport.’’
“These same factors were the reasons the House still stood behind Tambuwal even after he defected to the   APC in October 2014”, another Ogor campaigner added.
When The PUNCH sought their comments on Mondy, Gbajabiamila and Ogor tried hard to avoid admitting the obvious.

Saraki, Akume, Goje, others eye Senate Presidency

                                           

Some members of the All Progressives Congress in the Senate who won the recently concluded National Assembly election have refused to make comment on their preferred candidate for the post of Senate President in the eighth National Assembly.
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Senator Bukola Saraki (Kwara Central ); Senate Minority Leader, George Akume ( Benue North West); and Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central), have started making moves to contest the post.
However, one of the outgoing PDP senator, who pleaded anonymity, told our correspondent on Sunday that Mark might recontest the seat “because there is no section either in the constitution or the Senate rules that says only members from the majority party could emerge as president of the upper chamber.”
The source said Mark could still be re-elected as the Senate President since the Peoples Democratic Party won 49 out of the 109 seats in the red chamber.
The source said, “Since Senator Mark is currently enjoying a massive support from his PDP colleagues and he is also loved by majority of the opposition senators who are returning to the Senate, he could be voted for if they still believe in his leadership.”
Attempts to speak with the media aides of Mark on the issue were unsuccessful on Sunday as none of them picked their calls or reply the text message sent to their phones.
But further findings by our correspondent revealed that the APC leadership would not allow the emergence of the next Senate President from the PDP come June this year when the 8th National Assembly would be inaugurated.
Most of the senators who spoke on the issue during separate telephone conversations with our correspondent on conditions of anonymity, confirmed that serious moves were being made by Saraki, Akume, and Goje to take over the seat from Mark.
One of them from the South West said, “I have personally been consulted separately by the contenders and I told them that I would support any candidate which the party leadership approves.”
The Senator representing Zamfara Central, Kabiru Marafa, when contacted, declined comments on the issue claiming that he would only make his position known after the APC leaders might have allocated the position to a particular geo-political zone.
Marafa in a telephone interview on Sunday said, “I am not aware that the party had zoned the position to any region. It is still premature to discuss that for now. The leadership of the party would decide first then those interested to run will signify interest.”
Meanwhile, none of the senators allegedly making moves for the senate top job could be reached as of the time of filing this report as calls put through to their telephone lines were either left unanswered or failed to connect.
Meanwhile, the North-East chapter of the APC has asked the leadership of the party to cede the Senate Presidency or Speaker of the House of Representatives to the zone in recognition of the zone’s contribution to the party’s victory at the just-concluded presidential election.
The people said they have abundant talents and qualified candidates for the positions if given the opportunity to produce either of the two major political positions

The result of the National Assembly election declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission on Tuesday has pushed the opposition All Progressives Congress to the majority status in the 109 membership Senate.
Before the election, the Peoples Democratic Party enjoyed the majority status in the red chamber with 64 members while the APC has 41. Other parties, like the Labour Party, the Accord Party and the Social Democratic Party, shared the remaining five seats.
The APC will now have 64 senators; the PDP, 45; and the Labour Party, one.
The development, our correspondent observed, will obviously alter the configuration of the Senate leadership in the 8th Senate which would be inaugurated in June this year, because the opposition APC which is currently in the minority, would constitute the principal officers.
For instance, the current Senate President, David Mark who is returning to the Senate for the fifth time, will lose his seat to an APC member while the change in gear will also affect other principal officers like the Deputy Senate President, Senate Leader, Deputy Senate Leader, Chief Whip; and Deputy Chief Whip.
Apart from Mark and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu who won the election to return to the Senate, other principal officers like the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma -Egba; his deputy, Abdul Ningi; Chief Whip, Bello Gwarzo; and his deputy, Hosea Agboola, all lost their bid to return.
The current configuration is set to automatically transform the status of the APC members, especially the principal officers from minority to the majority.
For instance, the Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, according to sources, may likely emerge the new senate president, although some of his colleagues believed that another ranking senator should be elected since Mark, his kinsman from Benue man, would be relinquishing the seat after eight years.

Drama as APC Reps move to assume House leadership

                                

The House of Representatives resumed to a mild drama on Tuesday as members of the All Progressives Congress demanded to assume majority control of the 360-member legislature.
The development came as six more Peoples Democratic Party members announced their defection to other political parties on the floor of the House.
Three of the defectors, Mr. Robinson Uwak (Akwa Ibom State); Mr. Ibrahim Garba (Jigawa State); and Mr. Chinenye Ike (Abia State), joined the APC.
Two others, Mr. Tobias Okuwuru (Ebonyi State); and Mr. Peter Ali (Ebonyi State) defected to Labour Party, while Mr. Micah Umor (Akwa Ibom State), joined the Accord Party.
The APC now controls more members than the PDP, hitherto the majority party, owing to rising cases of defections hitting the latter since December 2014.
A total of 179 lawmakers are now in the APC, while the PDP has 162.
Smaller parties share the remaining 19 members, making 360.
However, the leadership positions in the House have remained unchanged with the PDP still occupying the seats of the Majority Leader, the Chief Whip and the Deputy Majority Leader.
But, on Tuesday, the APC caucus moved to assume full control of the House by demanding that the sitting PDP Majority Leader, Mulikat Akande-Adeola, should quit.
The Deputy Minority Leader, Suleiman Abdulrahman-Kawu (Kano State), spoke on behalf of the caucus at the session presided over by the Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal (APC, Sokoto State).
The PDP camp expressed discomfort with murmurs as Abdulrahman-Kawu cited Orders 6 (19) and 7(27) to demand that the PDP should give up the House leadership to the APC.
“APC is now the majority party in the House. In line with our rules, Mr. Speaker, let us do the right thing with the positions,” Abdulrahman-Kawu stated amid cheers from his APC colleagues.
Although Akande-Adeola and her deputy, Mr. Leo Ogor, attended the session, none of them rose to object to Abdulrahman-Kawu’s demand.
Akande-Adeola was seen removing and cleaning her lenses several times as Abdulrahman-Kawu spoke, while Ogor kept shaking his legs.
However, in a bid to douse the tension, Tambuwal quickly intervened to assure Abdulrahman-Kawu that his point of order was “noted.”
The Speaker went on to clarify that matters relating to the change of leadership of the House were still before competent courts of jurisdiction, awaiting disposal.
He explained that until the courts decided on the issues, the composition of the leadership would remain unchanged for now.
“Your matter of privilege is noted. But this matter is before competent courts of law. So, let us thread softly on it for now,” Tambuwal ruled.
Earlier while welcoming members back after their recess, Tambuwal urged them to redouble their efforts to leave a lasting legacy for Nigerians as their tenure wound down gradually.
The Speaker asked them to work hard to pass the 2015 budget, the Petroleum Industry Bill and the Constitution Amendment Bill soonest.
On the postponement of the general elections by six weeks, Tambuwal observed that much as it might raise credibility questions for the polls, he appealed to Nigerians to come out and vote for the candidates of their choice on March 28 and April 11.

Six PDP members defect to APC, LP

                                     

Six PDP members of the House of Reps have defected to APC, Labour party and Accord party. The lawmakers announced their defection at the resumed session of the house today February 17th. Three of them moved over to APC, two to Labor party while one moved over to Accord party.

Court refuses to hear suit seeking Tambuwal’s removal

                                   

Justice Ibrahim Buba of a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Monday refused to assume jurisdiction over a suit seeking to stop the House of Representatives from holding a plenary towards the execution of impeachment moves against President Goodluck Jonathan.
The suit also sought an order restraining Aminu Tambuwal from carrying on as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
But Buba refused to entertain the suit on the grounds that it fell short of the provisions of Order 2 Rule 2 of the Federal High Court Rules on jurisdiction.
Two lawyers namely, Anthony Nwajiugo and Okechukwu Ebirim, filed the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1863/14.
In it, they sought a declaration that the House of Representatives, as presently constituted with Tambuwal as the Speaker, was subversive of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
They sought a declaration “that the House of Representatives as presently constituted cannot embark on any legislative business, including the adjournment of plenary sessions on the impeachment of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, being improperly constituted; and
“A declaration that Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal constituency of Sokoto State cannot remain and by his action, lost the competence to remain the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of Nigeria.”
But on Monday when the second plaintiff, Ebirim, appeared before Buba, the judge asked why the plaintiffs did not go to Abuja to file the suit, since the defendants carry out their statutory duties in Abuja.
“Give me reasons why I should sit in Lagos and say the House of Representatives should not sit in Abuja. You have not served them in Abuja; you have served them in Lagos. Can we constitute our own jurisdiction?
“The two plaintiffs are lawyers, why are they afraid to go to Abuja? Does the National of Assembly carry out its business in Lagos?
“Learned counsel should address this court on why the court should entertain this suit in Lagos, in view of Order 2 Rule 2 of this court.”
But Ebirim submitted that being an issue that borders on the Constitution, and given the fact that the National Assembly had a liaison office in Lagos, the plaintiffs had the right to ventilate their grievances before the Federal High Court, irrespective of division.
He said, “We submit that a matter that borders on the constitution is national in nature and can be heard in a Federal High Court, irrespective of division.”
But Buba dismissed the argument and held, “This case is wrongly constituted in Lagos. The case shall be transferred to Abuja. The plaintiffs shall approach the Chief Judge of this court for a date for hearing.”
In an affidavit filed in support of the suit and deposed to by the first applicant, Nwajiugo, the deponent averred that by virtue of his citizenship and training as a lawyer, he was aware that Section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution provided that a member of Senate or House of Representatives shall vacate his seat upon defection from the party that sponsored him or her before the expiration of his or her tenure.
He added that the suit was filed basically to challenge the propriety of Tambuwal presiding over the House business, especially the plans to impeach Jonathan.

Court grants PDP permission to declare Tambuwal’s seat vacant

                                        

A Federal High court in Abuja  Dec. 1st gave PDP permission to apply for a mandatory order compelling either the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, to declare the Kebbe/Tambuwal seat being held by Hon Aminu Tambuwal vacant following his recent defection to APC from the PDP.
The PDP had dragged Tambuwal to court, asking the court to mandate him to declare his seat vacant and vacate his position as Speaker following his defect to the APC.
Delivering his ruling today, the presiding judge granted the PDP “leave to apply, by way of judicial review, for an order of mandamus compelling the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives to give effect to the provisions of Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution by declaring the Kebbe/Tambuwal federal Constituency seat vacant.”.

Obasanjo rubbishes National Assembly, says it’s an assembly of thieves, looters

                                      

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, today Nov. 26th rubbished the National Assembly, saying it is an Assembly of looters and thieves. He said this while speaking at the public presentation of the autobiography of Justice Mustapha Akanbi, in Abuja. Some of what he said below…

“Apart from shrouding the remunerations of the National Assembly in opaqueness and without transparency, they indulge in extorting money from departments, contractors and ministries in two ways”

“They do so during visits to their projects and programmes and in the process of budget approval when they build up budgets for ministries and departments, who agree to give it back to them in contracts that they do not execute. They do similar things during their inquiries.”

“Corruption in the National Assembly also includes what they call constituency projects which they give to their agents to execute but invariably, full payment is made with little or no job done. In all this, if the executive is not absolutely above board, the offending members of the National Assembly resort to subtle or open threat, intimidation and blackmail. When the executive pay the huge money, normally in millions of dollars, all is quiet in form of whitewashed reports that fail to deal effectively with the issues investigated.” 

 “When the guard is the thief, only God can keep the house safe and secure. But I am optimistic that sooner than later, we will overcome. God will give us guards of integrity and honesty with the fear of God and genuine love of their people and their country.

“Today, there is no institution of government that is not riddled with corruption, not even the military. As the people cry out, where then is the salvation.” Obasanjo said

Source: Premium Times

N’Assembly siege: Senate sets up panel to probe IG

                                       

Members of the Nigerian Senate on Wednesday descended heavily on the Nigeria Police Force for its last week Thursday’s invasion of the National Assembly. The action resulted into a pandemonium after policemen fired tear-gas canisters at the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, and some federal lawmakers.
The upper chamber, consequently set up a seven-member committee to probe the police action, within seven days, with a view to bringing to book those behind it.
The Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba (Cross River Central), moved the motion while his colleagues engaged in a debate which lasted for about one hour before constituting the ad-hoc committee to investigate the incident.
Members of the panel included, Senator Ahmed Makarfi (Kaduna North), who will act as chairman, while senators Abubakar Bagudu (Kebbi Central); Victor Lar, (Plateau South); Adegbenga Kaka, (Ogun East); Paulinus Igwe Nwagu, (Ebony Central); Mohammed Jibrilla Bindowo, (Adamawa Central); and Ehigie Uzamere, (Edo South), will serve as members.
Mark lamented the development and insisted that the action of the police which he said remained unfortunate must be condemned by all and sundry.
He said, “The Speaker (of the House of Representatives) is in touch with me and I’m in touch with the Speaker and we have put all that behind us. What we want is the strengthening of democracy in this country and whatever price we pay or whatever price we will make to strengthen democracy we will do so.
“We are appointing members from this House and we are not bringing anybody from outside and nobody is going to interfere in the work of the committee. We want them to be very thorough, we want them to be very sincere and we want them also to bring the report as quickly as possible.”
Ndoma-Egba in his lead debate, said that it was regrettable that the premises of the National Assembly was barricaded while Mark, Tambuwal, and other senators and members of the House, were prevented from gaining access into the complex.
The Deputy Senate Leader, Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central), who supported the motion, described the incident as a coup attempt by the police.
Ningi asked Nigerians of good conscience to rise up and condemn the incident, saying that since the return of democracy in 1999 such a thing had never happened.
He noted that since the executive and the Peoples Democratic Party had dissociated themselves from the incident, the police should be held solely responsible.
The police, he said, should be reminded that the fact that they were armed did not make them to be above the law.
For him, the police explanation that they were after hoodlums who allegedly planned to invade the National Assembly could not hold water since the Senate President and the Speaker could not be said to be hoodlums.
The Senate Minority Leader, George Akume ( (APC Benue North West), who said the police action had clearly shown that Nigeria was gradually sliding into dictatorship, argued that the action was completely unconstitutional, regardless of whatever reasons they (police) were adducing for it.
According to him, it is not the duty of the police to remove any Speaker who defects from one political party to the other but the duty of members of the Parliament.
He said, “That act was unconstitutional, criminal, deliberate and intended to tell us that we are not what we are or what we called ourselves.Where are the privileges of the National Assembly?
“Can this action be contemplated in South Africa, Ghana, Cameroon or even Mali that is close by? It is impunity of the highest order and we must act and very seriously to do justice to this issue in order to restore the dignity and sanctity of the National Assembly.”
Senator Ita Enang ( PDP Akwa Ibom North East), however, opened a new vista to the debate by suggesting that the National Assembly should come up with a bill that would bring about law reforms that would empower the sergeant-at-arms at both the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly to be armed along with their men as it was the practice in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
He added that the provisions of the legislative act upon which Nigerian parliament operates were somewhat ancient having been enacted in 1953 and reviewed in 1957 without provision for adequately armed standing police force at the National Assembly or the state Houses of Assembly.
He said, “This event is happening today to make us wake up to our responsibilities. It is today’s event that makes the history of tomorrow. What happened last Thursday was a call on us as lawmakers, to come up with laws that would prevent future occurrence.”
The senators argued that a panel of enquiry should be set up to carry out a thorough investigation on what made the police to carry out such an invasion.