BY Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
When he was called the President’s Attack Dog, Dr. Doyin Okupe, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs demurred, saying that he would rather be called an Attack Lion.

It was as such not surprising that like a lion which fears no creature, that Dr. Okupe, last Thursday launched a vitriolic attack against the two presiding officers of the National Assembly. Can he be caged?

Okupe: Mind my roar

The night before he presented the 2013 budget proposals to the National Assembly, President Goodluck Jonathan visited the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark in his Apo Mansion where he solicited the cooperation of the senate leadership for an expedited passage of the 2013 budget.

It was a remarkable journey for the president given the discord that had developed between the legislature and the presidency over the related issues on budget implementation and execution of the resolutions of the National Assembly.

As part of the activities lined up to lighten the evening, the president was joined by  the senate president and other members of the senate leadership present such as Senators Ike Ekweremadu, Victor Ndoma-Egba among others, to cut the nation’s independence anniversary cake.

However, the central thus of the president’s visit was for a smooth passage of the budget.

The president’s plea was positively received despite the earlier faux pas committed by one of the very senior officials in the presidential villa who had at the end of last month on his own caused the announcement of an October 4 date for the budget presentation without consultation with the National Assembly leadership. When that official announced the date, the House leadership partly in anger moved the House to adjourn on break and as such scuttling the date fixed by the presidential top aide for the budget presentation.

So, it was a welcome relief for all last Tuesday when the president drove to Senator Mark’s residence for a confidence building session on the eve of the budget presentation.

The visit was, however, not enough to stop what some presidency officials described as the irritating comments notably poured out by Senator Mark and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal that Wednesday.

While Mark said the budget remained mere estimates as it is truly, Speaker Tambuwal in the traditional vote of thanks enumerated areas of misgiving in the relationship between the House and the presidency.

After citing concerns on the unimpressive performance of the 2012 budget, the failure to inaugurate a board for the Public Procurement Council and other fiscal failures of the administration, Speaker Tambuwal centered in on the president’s cavalier disregard of resolutions of the National Assembly.

“I am compelled however to state that the National Assembly is becoming increasingly concerned about the disregard for its resolutions and public comments by certain functionaries of the Executive on same. I cite the Senate Resolution on the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the House Resolution on the state of insecurity of the nation, requesting Mr. President to visit and brief the House, the House of Representatives Resolution on the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the concurrent Resolution of the two Chambers on Bakassi among others. This does not promote cordial relationship between the Executive and Legislature and consequently stability in the polity.”

Though the president’s body movement did not show it, presidency officials reveal that he was not particularly happy over the tone of the remarks particularly given by Speaker Tambuwal.

But how that inspired his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe to attack the two presiding officers of the National Assembly is now a worry for top presidency officials.

A day after the budget presentation, Dr. Okupe summoned a press conference where he launched against the duo in a point by point dismissal and rebuke of the two presiding officers of the National Assembly.

“What was clearly a master presentation was nearly marred by some with the unnecessary remarks by the leadership of the National Assembly,” Okupe, said as he accused the duo of unnecessarily grandstanding.

‘’That was neither the place nor the occasion for such; after all, Mr. President was the special guest of honour and a distinguished visitor to the hallow chambers of the National Assembly. Normal legislative courtesy demands that such a visitor be allowed to perform his constitutional function without any attempt to rubbish the document that was yet to be discussed even by the members of the National Assembly.”

‘On domestic borrowing as raised by Speaker Tambuwal, the Presidency accused the National Assembly of being responsible on account of alleged hikes in past budgets of the Federal Government.

‘’The truth of the matter is that the speaker may not be aware or he should be aware, he is a third time law maker. It is the activities and actions of previous parliaments who continue to increase budgets that were sent to National Assembly without considering revenue that continuously expanded yearly in deficit, leading to huge national debts.

‘’On the bench mark, that was pure drama. The President submitted the budget. The budget is yet to be passed or yet to be looked into and debated and all that, and here, another arm of government, in a dictatorial manner, authoritatively said that it has decided that the bench mark shall be $80.”

On resolutions by the National Assembly demanding the sack of Ms. Bolanle Onagoruwa and Ms Arumah Oteh as Directors-General of the Bureau of