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House of Representative
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The House says no amount of intimidation would force it to
tolerate poor budget implementation by the President.
Amid a mixed public reaction that appears to have emboldened
its position, the House of Representatives on Monday insisted that its
resolution to impeachment President Goodluck Jonathan over poor budget
implementation remained firm and unshakable.
The House said in a statement that the move, which it has
now confirmed to be its official resolution, was “noble, bold and patriotic”
and would not be forced down by “intimidation and blackmail”.
Spokesperson Muhammad Zakari also denied that the resolution
was either sponsored by an opposition political party or borne out of
lawmakers’ grievance over the fuel subsidy bribery scandal involving its
member, Farouk Lawan, and the legislators’ inability to secure constituency
project allowance.
“No amount of blackmail or intimidation would cow us to
abdicate our constitutional responsibility which we signed with our employers
the (Nigerian people) to stand firm and protect their interest,” Mr. Zakari
said.
The notice followed intense meetings between the presidency
and the leadership of the National Assembly over the weekend, according to
reports, amid the controversy that has been generated by the House decision
last Thursday.
In a well-backed motion on Thursday, initiated by Sam
Tsokwa(PDP, Taraba state), and amended by Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila,
to reflect the impeachment proviso, the lawmakers said Mr. Jonathan had until
September to implement the budget or be forced out.
At present, national budget performance averaged 30 per
cent, the House Appropriation committee chairman, John Enoh, said, despite
impressive revenue yields from all government sectors.
A touchy subject that has, for years, elicited stormy
exchanges between the executive and the legislature, Nigeria’s budget
implementation, since 1999, has not performed more than 50 per cent. In the
past, governments have cited dwindling revenue and at times accused the
lawmakers of padding allocations, during appropriation exercise, beyond what it
could implement.
This time, all government revenue generating projections
have been met for the first two quarters of 2012.
The House of Reps’
position this time, one of its fiercest yet, has been applauded as much as it
has been condemned.
“The President, by failing to implement the budget as passed
by this honourable House, violates the 1999 Constitution and is therefore
liable to be impeached under section 143 of the 1999 Constitution", Mr.
Gbajabiamila had said.
“So therefore, I want to hereby submit that, come September,
we will begin to invoke and draw up articles of impeachment of Mr.
President", he declared before he was forcefully interrupted by a
colleague that represents President Jonathan's constituency in the House.”
The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties backed the
threat in a statement on Sunday. Spokesperson, Osita Okechukwu, said it was
“patriotic, germane and timely.”
“We are at a loss how the gross unemployment, dilapidated
infrastructure and decadence of social services can be addressed without
implementation of the Budget,” Mr. Okechukwu said.
Critics have accused the lawmakers of acting a routine
script that has only been triggered by the strings of clashes it has had with
the presidency lately.
Spokesperson of the House, Mr. Zakari, however claimed the
House was acting in the interest of the public, to forestall a degeneration of
an already fragile state of the nation.
“To then insinuate that the House of Representatives took
this noble step to satisfy pressure from a political party or because the
constituency projects were not awarded to members or because of the drama that
followed the presentation of the fuel subsidy report, is to say the least
maliciously damaging and uncharitable to the image of the Assembly,” he said.
“To assume that we are guided by some forces outside the
House of Representatives is mischievous and a deliberate ploy to misrepresent
the House before the Nigerian public.”
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