How Reps fared in 2010
By Tordue Salem
The House of Representatives resumed in the first week of January, 2010 on a stormy note. They had a case of terror involving 23-year old Abdul-Farouk Mutallab, a Nigerian caught on a Detroit, United States-bound aircraft with an explosive tied around his waist, to handle.
Mutallab’s action prompted the inclusion of Nigeria on the Terror Watch List of the United States and it got the House cracking.
House Spokesman, Rep. Eseme Eyiboh, at a press briefing on Friday, January 5, 2010, described the decision of the United States as “unwarranted and unfair” and warned that, “the earlier they ( US) de_list Nigeria on that list or rescind from the decision to put us on alert, the better for our diplomatic relations”.
Eyiboh claimed that US security agencies – CIA and FIB, were also culpable in the terrorism and that it was possible that they had accomplices with the guys that trained Mutallab in Yemen.
But by the following week, despite its condemnation of the hasty decision of the United States, the lawmakers pushed through second reading “A Bill for an Act to Provide for Measures to Combat Terrorism and for Related Matters”.
The Terror Bill was expected to get accelerated hearing and promptly become law, but unfortunately, several months later, it is yet to sail through. The Bill, first introduced in December 2006, was re-introduced in 2009 by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
Late President Yar’ Adua’s illness an d controversies
The Mutallab tragedy was accompanied by the terminal ailment of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
As the nation groaned over the 50-day absence of Yar’Adua from Nigeria, members of the House of Representatives under the auspices of Integrity Group assured that the Green Chamber’s debate would be based on provisions of the 1999 Constitution.
But as time crept on, some bizarre parliamentary politicking took. Rep Faruk Lawan admitted at a stage that the issue was initially a very simple one but was complicated when could have been initial steps were not taken.
The controversy went on until Vice President Goodluck Jonathan was sworn-in as Acting President when the Senate invoked a ‘Doctrine of Necessity.’
The National Assembly passed bill making it compulsory for vice president and deputy governors to become acting president or governors if the helmsman remained away for a length of time.
The Bill amended “Section 145 by renumbering the existing section 145(1) and inserting immediately after the existing Section 145 a new subsection (2) as follows:
“Where the President fails or neglects to transmit to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration of his absence under any circumstances for a continuous period of not more than 21 days or otherwise not able to discharge the functions of his office for a continuous period of not more than 21 days for whatever reason called, the Vice President shall assume and discharge the functions of the President as Acting President”
Amid the presidential controversies, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi had taken some troubled banks to the cleaners, sacking their chief executives and appointing their replacements.
The House in its response took the side of the new managers of the defaulting banks and endorsed a mass purge, citing several statutes as justification, in a motion brought by Rep. Kayode Idowu (PDP/Osun).
On January 21, the House for the fourth time, threw out the Freedom of Information Bill. The Bill which was slated for consideration and subsequent referral to relevant Committees for a public hearing was withdrawn by a majority wthout reasons for doing so.
The last time these crop of lawmakers threw out the bill was on November 14, 2007, but pursuant to Order XV, Rule 8, Reps. Rep. Ita Enang, C.I.D Maduabum, Eziuche Ubani and others, re_introduced a Motion for the Bill to be reconsidered by the House.
However, a majority of the lawmakers rejected the motion and another motion by Speaker Dimeji Bankole for an executive session to straighten out issues that might have been agitating their minds on the content of the Bill.
On May 15, 2010, the House, despite much lobbying, refused to list the Civil Forfeiture Bill, which seeks to help the EFCC freeze ill_acquired assets. The bill has been on the shelf since 2008.
After marking 11 years of democracy on May 29, 2010, the lawmakers accelerated action on amendment of the 1999 Constitution. By June 13, they were ready to meet the 36 state Houses of Assembly to endorse initial amendments to the 1999 Constitution and thereafter, the successful amendments were passed into law.
Within the period, the EFCC and ICPC commenced efforts to prosecute Speaker Dimeji Bankole and his Deputy for alleged corruption in the purchase of N2.3 billion worth of official vehicles for members. After a firework accusations and counter-accusations, the matter fizzled out.
On June 22, the lawmakers practically became brawl-makers when 11 members accused the leadership of graft and the matter degenerated to a free-for-all in the hallowed chambers.
The House through a motion by Rep. Chile Igbawua (PDP/Benue), suspended the 11 opposition Reps – Dino Melaye, Doris Uboh, Solomon Awinawhin, Bitrus Kaze, Anas Adamu, Independence Ogunewe, Gbenga Onigbogi, Austin Nwachukwu, Ehiogie West-Idahosa and Kayode Amusan and Gbenga Oduwaiye, for disrupting House proceedings.
As part of their oversight function, the Reps on October 14, accused the Presidency of wasting over three trillion dollars in five years without the approval of the National Assembly as stipulated in section 81 of the 1999 Constitution.
Aside extra-budgetary expenditure, the House Committee also accused the Executive of a fresh accumulation of local and foreign debts to the tune of over US$20billion, barely four years after the country paid over $32billion of debts accumulated for a period of over two decades to exit the Paris Club of creditors.
Few weeks later, the House of Representatives stood down a motion seeking the National Assembly’ approval of cumulative foreign loan approval of over US$900million. The Speaker had summarily and abruptly suspended a resolution on the motion as majority of the members opposed the loan proposal in its entirety.
Over US$300million of the said loan had earlier in the year been approved with an outstanding of about US$507million, which was approved in installments, leaving a fresh loan proposal of US$4.455 billion.
President Jonathan had written the House of Representatives, seeking for its approval pursuant to section 21 of the Debt Management Office Act to borrow a total sum of $4.455 billion from seven Foreign Development Agencies to fund power and sundry projects.
But majority of the members of the National Assembly, said the proposal must not be approved. “Our own Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has warned us not to return to foreign borrowing, so we must be careful the way we are passing resolutions. We know how much suffering it took us to pull out of the Paris Club creditors, so there is a need to be careful”, Rep. Abike Dabiri warned.
Smarting from its non-approval of the loan, the Reps got themselves enmeshed in a controversy when on November 30, they approved N6.1 billion for the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC to register SIM cards despite public outcry.
The decision contravened sections 12 and 13 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
However, they scored good marks, when on December 17, they declared the 2011 budget estimates of N4.226trillion, as presented before a joint session of the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan as too unrealistic for implementation.
The budget that came with a deficit of N1.390trillion, because of the exclusion of over 31 agencies’ revenue remittances to the Federation Account, almost stalled plenary session in the Green Chamber as the Minority Leader, Rep. Muhammed Ndume insisted that details of the proposal must be made available “to every member”, before second reading.
The government agencies responded and submitted their estimates as the lawmakers demanded.
On November 22, the lawmakers were headed for another controversy when they debated one of the most contentious and hated bills of the year: The amendments to the Electoral 2010, where they staged a failed mobilization against over-bearing Governors and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The Bill seeks to ram lawmakers into their parties’ respective National Executive Committees. Besides opposition from outside, they engage in intra_ party bickering across parties in the Green and Red Chambers.
When the odium generated by the controversial amendment got so thick, the Reps passed the Electoral Act on December 16 without the clauses that sought to put the lawmakers on NECs of their parties.
