NASS moves to investigate Yar’Adua

By Jide Ajani & Emmanuel Aziken
ABUJA— SENATORS have fashioned strategy to indirectly investigate the health status of President Umaru Yar‘Adua through an inquiry of the presidential assent of the 2009 supplementary budget.

The Senate debate is to be carried out on live television, normally dependent Senate sources confided, yesterday. Also, the House of Representatives is billed to set in motion, a cause of action designed to provide respite in the present shambles in the polity occasioned by the long absence of President Yar’Adua from the country.

The House is also promising to ensure that Nigerians are made to savour a sense of well-being at the end of its debates today on the same matter.

Making this known, yesterday, was Hon. Lawan Farouk, who is also the leader of the House of Representatives Integrity Group – the group saw to the exit of Speaker Patricia Etteh on account of alleged corruption and has also been in the vanguard of a campaign to sanitize the polity.

Senators ploy

The inquiry being organized by the senators, Vanguard learnt, bears ominous consequences for some presidential aides in the event of a forgery as some senators were, yesterday, proposing to commit culpable aides of the President for treason.

The decision to debate the assent of the supplementary budget, according to reliable sources, was being considered as a politically suave way to approach concerns by senators on the absence of the President from the country in the past 50 days.

The debate on the health status would inevitably pave way for Senate action as senators have noted their limited powers to act in the case of a presidential infirmity except through express removal of the President. Affirming the frustration of fellow senators on the issue, yesterday, one prominent senator said: ”We are tired of everything and no one knows the truth and that is why we are bringing it to the public domain and we will debate it before the television cameras.”

It was not clear, as at press time, how the Senate would approach the issue but it was learnt that a motion seeking an investigation into the authenticity of the presidential assent of the 2009 N353 billion Supplementary Budget would likely come up.

The motion Vanguard learnt would dovetail into the health status of the President. The Senate decision to beam the session live is despite the fact that the normal schedule for live transmissions of Senate plenary session is on Wednesdays. The decision it was learnt is a deliberate attempt to counter public criticism of the Senate’s unwillingness in the past to debate the issue.

Two past attempts to debate the absence of President Yar‘Adua from the country were shot down on the Senate floor.

Reps determined to find solution

Hon. Farouk told Vanguard that upon resumption of sitting today, members of the House would debate “the propriety or otherwise of the situation” which has plunged the Nigerian polity into a state of confusion. Farouk said “members are also as concerned as other Nigerians who have expressed their feelings about what is happening in the polity on account of the President’s absence.

“It is true that Nigerians are concerned but it is also true that members of the House are even more concerned because we are aware of the implications of what is going on. What I can assure Nigerians is that when we resume tomorrow (today), we would discuss the issue dispassionately and in a manner devoid of sentiments.

What Nigerians should expect from the House is a very robust debate on the matter and I want to assure the people that we would ensure that whatever resolution we can find, we would ensure that we find it to the betterment of Nigeria and Nigerians.”

Asked why it has taken this long for the members to come out smoking, Hon. Farouk insisted that “it is not just a matter of coming out smoking; people must have a total picture and don’t forget, members were already on their way for vacation before matters got to this head.”

The member said “we in the House are poised to find a solution that would be quite acceptable to Nigerians tomorrow (today) when we resume sitting. This is not a time to play games and be sentimental. We all know that there are certain provisions in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which takes care of this type of situation.”