The presidency may have finally caved in
to the demands by members of the National Assembly for the release of
N100 billion meant for constituency projects before they consider and
approve any request from the executive arm of government.
Several legislative approvals sought by
President Muhammadu Buhari have suffered defeats or delays in recent
weeks, particularly the request for the $30 billion external borrowing
plan, the 2017-2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal
Strategy Paper (FSP), and virement of N180 billion in the 2016 budget.
It was gathered that so far, about 50
per cent of the constituency funds have been quietly released through
the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, National Commission for
Refugees and other ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of
government.
Sources said that the leadership of the National Assembly secured commitments from the presidency for the release of the funds.
“Recall that the Senate President met
with the president several times last week. So the commencement of the
release of the funds would smoothen the path for the approvals being
sought by the executive,” a source said.
The source, however, noted that while
the lawmakers may soft pedal on their initial stance, many of them
remain sceptical that the funds would be completely released by the
finance ministry.
“The sour relations between both arms of
government lingers, so both view each other with suspicion and do not
trust each other. Many of the lawmakers are however not convinced that
all the money will be released, particularly when considering utterances
of the executive.
“Maybe only some lawmakers will eventually benefit,” the source explained.
Another source, who confirmed that the
constituency funds were being released, however noted that the executive
arm of government is currently making efforts to repair its fractured
relations with the legislature.
“Before now, only Dogara (Speaker) and
Gbajabiamila seemed to be the sort of balancing forces in the
legislature, but obviously the Senate carries more weight.
“If the president cannot have his men
there, he has to find a way to work with whoever is there. The House
alone cannot pass his requests,” the source said.
Indications that the lawmakers may be
somewhat appeased emerged as the leadership of the House of
Representatives yesterday passed a motion mandating its Committee on
Appropriation to consider the request for the virement of N180 billion.
Other committees to which the virement
are related to would also serve as sub-committees of the Appropriation
Committee to consider the request. These include the Committees on
Nigerian Air Force, Youth Development, Niger Delta and Works, among
others.
The motion was sponsored by the Majority
Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who recalled that the communication
from the president requesting the virement of the funds was read on the
floor of the House on October 25.
Presiding, Deputy Speaker Yussuff
Sulaimon Lasun put the question on whether the prayer should be
accepted. The motion was not subjected to debate as is normally the
practice.
A few lawmakers uttered the “ayes” and Lasun hit the gravel before allowing any dissenting voice to register a vote.
No protests, however, followed the action, indicating that some lobbying by the House leadership might have worked.
Gbajabiamila was observed also engaging
several members, including key members of the opposition Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), in discussions before he read the motion.
The request would however be returned to
the floor of the House for consideration of the committee’s report. At
this stage, the request could be accepted or rejected.
Presenting the motion, Gbajabiamila
stated that N180 billion appropriated for special intervention
(recurrent) and special intervention (capital) is to fund some critical
recurrent and capital items.
Gbajabiamila added that the request is
intended to address shortfalls in the Amnesty Programme in the Niger
Delta, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation scheme, and
military operations in the North-east, among other projects.
“The Nigerian Air Force needs to cover
the foreign exchange differentials in the procurement of its critical
equipment and augment the contingency vote, and also to provide for the
inadequacy in the provision for the NYSC programme in the 2016, among
others,” he said.
Gbajabiamila further explained that
several MDAs presented issues pertaining to salary shortfalls as it
affects those that are not listed on the Integrated Personnel and
Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
Also, the House resolved to summon the
Director General of the Budget Office, Mr. Ben Akabueze, over his
directive to heads of agencies of government to remit treasury capital
funds already released to them.
The DG allegedly directed the management
of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to remit N8 billion to
the treasury out of N10.3 billion released for the execution of capital
projects, leaving the agency with N2.3 billion only.
He is expected to appear before an ad hoc committee to explain what the House said was a worrisome trend.
The resolution followed a motion of
urgent public importance sponsored by Hon. Agbedi Frederick (Bayelsa
PDP), who highlighted the compelling need for FERMA to repair and
maintain dilapidated roads across the nation.
He recalled that the sum of N21.8
billion was appropriated for the agency in the 2016 budget, of which
N10.3 billion was released in October.
The lawmaker added that the agency had
prioritised its capital projects, and contractors who had submitted
tenders were bound to lose by the directive of the Budget Office.
“The directive of the DG, Budget Office
of the Federation, cannot be said to be virement, as virement can only
be approved by the National Assembly, which has not done so in this
case,” Agbedi said.
He warned that the planned execution of capital projects by agencies would be crippled if the directive is allowed to stand.
Just like the House, the Senate
yesterday also commenced legislation on the president’s request for
virement of N180.8 billion from the 2016 budget.
Accordingly, the Senate mandated its
Committees on Appropriation and Finance to expeditiously treat the
president’s request and submit its report within one week for final
approval.
Buhari had asked the National Assembly
to approve the virement of N180,839,254,439 billion from N500 billion
appropriated for the Special Intervention Programme in the 2016 budget
to finance other key projects.
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