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| National Assembly |
•Seeks review of cut-off marks for admissions to unity
colleges
Onwuka Nzeshi
After a long-drawn argument and series of postponements, the
House of Representatives Wednesday
finally dumped the 2013 Appropriation Act Amendment Bill.
This came on the heels of a motion seeking a reversal of the
discriminatory government policy on admission to Federal Government Colleges
(unity schools).
The House Committee on Education has been mandated to
interface with both the Federal Ministry of Education and the National
Examinations Council (NECO) to review the policy to guarantee fairness and
restore credibility to the system.
The lower chamber of the National Assembly threw away the
budget amendment bill after it received the report of an ad hoc committee set
up to scrutinise it and advise the chamber on how to handle it in view of the
objections earlier raised on it.
In throwing out the bill, the House argued that Section 81
(1), (2) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution did not envisage an amendment to an
Appropriation Act, except through supplementary appropriation.
Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Hon. Albert
Sam-Tsokwa, who read the report at plenary yesterday, said the Appropriation
Act 2013 Amendment Bill, which President Goodluck Jonathan forwarded to the
National Assembly on March 14, had no place in the 1999 Constitution.
Sam-Tsokwa stated that apart from the title of the document,
"Appropriation Act 2013 Amendment Bill", the document had nothing
again in it to show that it was a document seeking to amend or repeal and
re-enact the 2013 Appropriation Act.
According to him, the five-clause bill was completely silent
on which sections of the 2013 Appropriation Act it sought to amend or repeal.
It was also silent on the schedules or what aspects of the
schedules to the 2013 Act it sought to amend or repeal.
He noted that while the 2013 Appropriation Act appropriated
a total sum of N4,987,220,425,601.00 for the 2013 financial year, the 2013
Appropriation Act (Amendment) Bill sought to appropriate a total sum of
N4,987,382,196,690.00.
“What the Amendment Bill 2013 seeks to appropriate is more
than what was appropriated for the 2013 fiscal year in the 2013 Appropriation
Act.
"That is to say, the executive would appear to be
seeking additional funds. Obviously, this cannot be achieved through an amendment
bill. The answer lies in a Supplementary Appropriation under section 81(4) of
the Constitution. Mr. President, being
the only authority constitutionally endowed and empowered to initiate a money
bill, may wish to re-submit a proper bill as section 81 clearly ties the hands
of the parliament,” the report said.
There was no debate on the report as Speaker, Hon. Aminu
Tambuwal, ruled in favour of the earlier objection raised against the bill.
This has effectively put an end to any hope of the House
considering the 2013 Appropriation Act Amendment Bill.
The president had via a March 14 letter forwarded the
amendment bill to the two chambers of the National Assembly.
The bill passed the first reading stage and was subsequently
scheduled for second reading on June 5, but the debate and consideration of the
general principles of the bill were stalled when the Chairman, House Services
Committee, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, raised a constitutional point of order against
the bill.
Dogara drew the attention of the House to section 81(1), (2)
and (4) of the 1999 Constitution and observed that the Appropriation Act 2013
(Amendment) Bill under consideration was more of a new 2013 Appropriation Bill
than an Amendment Bill 2013.
He argued that the bill was alien to section 81 of the
Constitution and therefore unconstitutional.
Tambuwal entertained comments on the constitutional point of
order from some members and ruled that being a constitutional issue, the matter
should be referred to the House Committees on Rules and Business, Justice and
Judiciary for further examination.
Also yesterday, the House entertained a motion seeking a
reversal of the alleged discriminatory admission policy to the unity colleges.
Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public
Affairs, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, who raised the matter, said whereas the 1999
Constitution abhors discrimination of any sort against its citizens, the
Federal Ministry of Education was pursuing discriminatory policies in the
admission of pupils to the unity colleges.
Section 42 (1) of the 1999 Constitution states that no
citizen of Nigeria shall be discriminated against on the basis of his
community, ethnic group, place of origin, gender, religion or political opinion
through any law in force in Nigeria or any executive or administrative action
of government.
Similarly, under the fundamental human rights as enshrined
in the 1999 Constitution, no Nigerian child should be denied access to
education, based on state of origin or any other consideration.
In the lead debate, Ogene raised the alarm that the recently
released cut-off marks for the unity colleges by the ministry and NECO,
organisers of the National Common Entrance Examinations in Nigeria, contravened
the constitution.
According to him, the system adopted gave candidates from
some states undue advantage over the others, describing it as a mockery of the
principles of merit and fairness.
“It is a source of concern that while candidates from my
home state, Anambra, irrespective of gender, are expected to score at least 139
marks to gain admission to the said unity schools, candidates from some other
states are expected to score just two or three marks respectively for the same
admission.
“I am worried that at a time when affirmative action is geared
towards assisting the girl-child, this executive policy is ironically tilted
against female candidates in several states, requiring them to score higher
marks than their male counterparts before securing admission, contrary to
provisions of the Nigerian constitution that require that nobody should suffer
discrimination based on gender,” he said.
Ogene expressed dismay that while candidates from some
states were required to score below 70 marks for admission, those from the
entire South-eastern states are required to score marks such as: Abia – 130,
Enugu – 134, Ebonyi -112, Imo – 138 and Anambra – 139 to be admitted to the
unity colleges.
He described as nebulous and illogical the explanation
offered by the ministry that this anomaly was a deliberate agenda to encourage
"educationally disadvantaged states" in line with the principles of
federal character.
Ogene warned that this discriminatory policy, if allowed to
stand, would not only encourage illegality, but also destroy the core values of
merit, hard work and excellence in favour of indolence and mediocrity.
The motion got the support of the lawmakers and the House
Committee on Education has been mandated to parley with both the ministry and
NECO to review the policy. The committee is to report back to the House on July
2.
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