— The Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) August 7, 2018
Tag: National Assembly
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Video: Oshiomhole collecting signatures for Saraki’s impeachment, Sen. Melaye alleges
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Video: Besieged by Pro-Saraki Senators, Pres. Buhari’s political aide stays mute
https://twitter.com/NGRSenate/status/1026761883049574401
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JUST IN: 49 Senators append signatures against impeachment of Saraki, Ekweremadu
Some Senators totalling 49 in number have appended signatures to stand against the purported impeachment of Senate President Bukola Saraki and Senate Deputy President Ike Ekweremadu.
This is following meeting between All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, and the Director General of the Department of State Services (DG-DSS), Lawan Daura and 30 APC Senators led by the Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan.
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National Assembly Siege: Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty – Atiku
Former Vice President and Presidential aspirant under the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the drama that happened at the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Read full statement:
The attention of former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has been drawn to an illegal and undemocratic attempt by fascist forces to break into the National Assembly for the purpose of furthering the agenda to force a change in the Nigerian Senate’s leadership.
Atiku Abubakar completely condemns this atrocity and calls on all those involved to put Nigeria first and abandon this madness.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, guarantees both the independence of the Legislature and Separation of Powers. Nigeria is a democracy not a military dictatorship and we the people will never return to tyranny.
Atiku Abubakar calls on President Muhammadu Buhari and acting President Yemi Osinbajo to stop hiding behind one finger and live up to their responsibility of upholding the constitution and law and order, which they swore to on May 29, 2015.
“We warned that if what occurred in Benue last week was not checked on time, it would escalate to the federal level. Today we are seeing that warning in play.”
The acting President, being himself a Professor of Law, ought to know that setting such a precedent is an invitation to anarchy.
There are better uses for our security forces at this time than to lay siege to our citadels of democracy. Our people are languishing in the midst of unprecedented insecurity and nationwide killings. To thus deploy our security forces in this present manner whilst Nigerians face these challenges is an abdication of responsibility to say the least.
All Nigerians should be watchful and mobilised to defend democracy. We must remember that ‘eternal vigilance is the price of liberty’.
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![BREAKING: Drama as DSS takes over N/Assembly [Video]](https://thenewsguru.ng/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/DSS-NASS.jpg)
BREAKING: Drama as DSS takes over N/Assembly [Video]
Men of the State Security Service (DSS) have taken over the National Assembly and prevented lawmakers, journalists and staff from entrance.
The DSS men who appeared battle ready took strategic positions at all the gates leading to the National Assembly premises.
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BREAKING: Saraki summons National Assembly leaders for emergency meeting
Information reaching TheNewsGuru.com have it that the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, on Monday convened an emergency meeting of the leaderships of the two chambers of the National Assembly.
The meeting, expected to have in attendance principal officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives, is scheduled to hold Tuesday afternoon.
A source who confirmed the meeting to said the meeting would touch on pressing national issues seeking the urgent attention of the National Assembly.
The officials are expected to meet for one hour beginning at noon.
The source added that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, will then meet with the lawmakers at 1 p.m.
Issues expected to be on the agenda of the meeting include the string of defections in the political space, the rumoured plan to impeach Saraki and the pending 2019 elections supplementary budget, among others.
The leadership, our sources said, might consider the possibility of reconvening the National Assembly to discuss urgent and important national issues pending before the lawmakers.
A media aide to Mr Saraki, Yusuph Olaniyonu, confirmed his principal is planning a meeting but declined to provide details.
Recall that the Senate and the House of Representatives proceeded on annual recess on July 24 to reconvene on September 25.
…More details as events unfold
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Presidency ‘begs’ National Assembly to suspend recess, approve 2019 election budget
The Presidency has urged the National Assembly to suspend the ongoing recess and attend to requests by President Muhammadu Buhari pending before the legislature.
The National Assembly was billed to proceed on holiday on Thursday but the lawmakers went on recess on Tuesday in protest against the alleged clampdown on President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; and Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.
One of such requests is the one asking the lawmakers to vire funds in the 2018 Appropriation Act to fund the supplementary budgets of the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies for the conduct of the 2019 general elections.
Recall that Buhari had recently presented a N228bn supplementary budget to the National Assembly, asking the legislature to re-allocate part of the N578bn voted to the projects inserted by the lawmakers into the 2018 Appropriation Act.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters ( Senate), Senator Ita Enang, warned that delaying the approvals would frustrate some organs of the government.
Enang said, “The executive – President and ministers – will keep working with the legislature with respect due their offices and persons, and keep working with them as legislators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who make laws for the executive to execute irrespective of their individual political decisions while leaving all options open for conciliation.
“We will be praying the legislature – the leadership and membership – to consider that there are many matters of very urgent nature which are pending before the legislature and unless (they are) considered, the functioning of certain institutions of the government will be hampered.
“If you recall, a lot of the funding for the 2018 budget was budgeted to come from some external sources. The request for approval to raise funds from these external sources is before the legislature and unless (it is) considered, it may hamper the level of implementation. Again, before the legislature proceeded on vacation, Mr President also laid before them the request for virement, this also will be affected.”
Enang also mentioned the $496m for which Buhari sought legislative approval to procure 12 Super Tucano aircraft from the United States. The order will be delivered in 2020.
The money is part of the $1bn security spending approved by the National Economic Council on December 14, 2017.
The President had made the request in April but the lawmakers criticised him for allowing withdrawal of the fund from the Excess Crude Account in anticipation of National Assembly’s approval.
Enang said, “Mr President had earlier on laid the request for the application of some security funds for the purchase of Tucano jets to fight insurgency that is still pending.
“There are also the budgets (of Federal Government departments, agencies and parastatals) which are pending. You remember the President laid before the National Assembly sometime in November last year, the 2018 budget; it was the budget of the Federal Government. The budgets of the Federal Government’s corporations have not yet been passed.”
The presidential aide stated that the budgets included provisions for employment and capital spending which could affect the running and functioning of the economy.
“The executive is very law-abiding and will not do a thing which the law requires the legislature to do: to approve first before it is done, unless it is done. We will be praying the legislature to consider the emergency implications of this and decide to come out of this (recess) and consider this within the period of the vacation.
“We accept that some exigencies might have caused the abridgement of the time within which they were to proceed on vacation. We will be working with them to ensure that we have few of these considered and passed within a time that it will still be reasonable to attain the purpose of the economy,” Enang added.
But the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi, could not be reached to react to the demand from the Presidency.
However, the House of Representatives, in its response, said the National Assembly operated on a calendar, which it must follow through.
The spokesman for the House, Mr Abdulrazak Namdas, reminded Enang that “being a veteran of the legislature,” the presidential aide was better placed to know that the National Assembly went on annual recess between July and September.”
He added, “It is not like the National Assembly was adjourned for some days that he will be asking us to reconvene. The legislature is on an annual recess and he knows that this is about the calendar.”
However, Namdas assured Enang that none of the President’s requests would suffer any setback.
“As soon as we return in September, the President’s requests will receive immediate attention. They will be the top priorities of the House. So, there is really nothing to worry about,” he added.
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Atiku welcomes National Assembly members’ decampment into PDP
Former Vice President of Nigeria and frontline presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar welcomes the decampment of members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the National Assembly into the Peoples Democratic Party remarking that it is an indication that the ruling party is a sinking ship.
Atiku notes that the decampment from the APC further explains the lack of capacity of the ruling party to hold and manage a political party, and indeed a government, and calls on the new entrants to see their decampment as a call to duty.
“The decision of a significant number of members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives to leave the APC and decamp into the PDP clearly indicates that there is hope that the country can be rescued from the misrule of the APC government.
“I want to extol the courage of those legislators for standing up for a mission of salvaging our democracy, restoring the economy to make it work for Nigerians, creating opportunities for the teeming youth, promoting unity and security to lives and property.
“At such a time like this when the APC has brought our country to an all-time low in poor management of the economy and millions of Nigerians out of job; the daily killings of Nigerians while the police is being deployed to persecute political opponents – it is commendable that these lawmakers have chosen to be on the right side of the moment and history shall keep a noble account of their exceptional courage,” Atiku said.
The former Vice President congratulates the Peoples Democratic Party for presenting itself as a suitable platform for the new entrants.
He emphasized that the choice of the PDP as a preferred destination for them is an endorsement of the kind of leadership the national chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus has provided since assuming office.
“Like I said at my declaration rally in Yola barely 72 hours ago, there are more mass defections from the APC into the PDP and it is important to mention that these defections signify a vote of no confidence in the APC-led government and the 2019 election is going to be a referendum of how the APC shattered the expectations of Nigerians”.
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Buhari, Saraki, Dogara trade words over 2018 budget, poor executive-legislature relationship
President Muhammadu Buhari and leaders of the National Assembly on Monday heaped blames on themselves over delay in the passage and signing of the 2018 Appropriation bill.
While the president feels that the bill was not given the immediate attention it deserves despite submitting it to the National Assembly in November 2017, the National Assembly leaders feel the executive wants to use it as a rubber stamp to approve anything without proper vetting.
The President however expressed hope the legislature would give the next budget a speedy treatment.
Buhari spoke at the opening session of the 1st National Assembly Open Week held in Abuja on Monday, where he was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha.
Buhari said, “In the spirit of the open week of interaction for good governance, let me address the important issue of recognising the budget as a tool of economic development. As I reiterated in my speech during the signing of the 2018 Appropriation Bill into law, I had hoped that the usual legislative review process would be quick when I submitted the proposal in November, 2017, in order to return to a predictable January to December Financial Year.
“While my desire was premised on the need to bring about better development outcomes in 2018 using the budget, it was regrettable that the required executive-legislative collaboration was not reflected in the time it took to pass the bill.
“I must also mention that the government has noted the detailed response to the issues raised at the signing ceremony of the 2018 Appropriation Bill. The point to underscore firmly is that a stronger and more cordial executive-legislative relationship must exist in the interest of the nation and the people that elected us into office. It must be a win-win situation for all Nigerians.”
The President noted the importance of oversight activities of the legislature “to ensure efficient, equitable and the judicious use of resources to bring about the delivery of service by the executive.”
He said, “It is the expectation of this administration that the processes of oversight would be given adequate time for discussion during the week in other to fine-tune it.”
Buhari, who also noted that the principle of separation of powers was enshrined in the Constitution, said, “I wish to state that since my assumption of office in May 2015, I have maintained a position that favours and supports the true independence of the various arms of government, including the National Assembly, perhaps, more than any administration in this country.
“You are all aware of my open commitment to working with any set of the leadership of the National Assembly that emerges, and I have remained true to it. This commitment is expected to take us beyond politics when dealing with the well-being of our citizens. We must continue to demonstrate our resolve to work harmoniously, while respecting the principles of separation of powers.”
In their speeches, President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, urged the other arms of government particularly the executive to obey democratic principles such as the rule of law and separation of powers.
Saraki, who said the legislature was the most misunderstood arm of government especially on budget-related matters, denied that the National Assembly held on to the 2018 Appropriation Bill.
The Senate President stated that it was necessary for both arms of government to better understand one another through “compromise, consultation and engagement.”
Saraki added, “However, it remains a concern that, because the legislature is the youngest arm of government in Nigeria, it is the most misunderstood. This is largely due to an abiding misconception as to the role of the legislature and the work we are doing to stabilise democracy and ensure accountability in governance.”
In the same vein, Dogara said it was his hope that the new phase of openness that was being launched by the National Assembly would afford Nigerians the opportunity to better understand the workings of the legislature in proper perspectives.
“I say this because many Nigerians do not quite understand the functions of the parliament in carrying out its constitutionally assigned roles and responsibilities,” he noted.
The Speaker said, “Permit me to use this occasion to reiterate that the legislature is the paramount arm of government because the whole idea of limited government and representative democracy begins and ends with lawmaking and execution of laws. This reality has not dawned on many Nigerians mainly because of our military era experiences during which the elected legislature was always disbanded at the slightest sound of martial music.”
Dogara emphasised that in a modern democracy, all the three arms of government must function effectively for good governance to be entrenched. He, however, stated that such could only happen if the principles of democracy were preserved.
