Last week was particularly difficult for the National Assembly. The two chambers -Senate and House of Representatives would not forget the week in a hurry . The burden would, arguably, be more on the shoulder of the House .
The issue has to do with the botched 2014 budget presentation by President Goidluck Jonathan. The presentation was scheduled for Tuesday ,November 19 but was later called off. Interestingly, it was the second time the event would be canceled . It was earlier billed for November 12 but later shifted by a week.
The curious thing was not the cancelation of the presentation but the drama that was weaved around it. For several hours, most members of the House of Representatives and officials of the National Assembly did not know that President Jonathan had called off the meeting with the lawmakers.
As early as 6 pm, staffers of the National Assembly laid red carpet in strategic places and security operatives positioned themselves in all the corners . Vehicles , except those that belonged to lawmakers were not allowed into the National Assembly complex.
All the arrangements were for the reception of the President. Although the presentation was slated for 12 noon, several lawmakers got to their offices as early as 7 am. But the story changed at 8.38 am. First, it came as a rumour that the President would no longer visit. Few minutes later, a confirmation came from security operatives as they rolled off the carpets laid for the event.
Not a few lawmakers was taken aback by the development. The opposition in the House did not take the development kindly. They quickly held a meeting . The meeting was presided over by the Minority Leader, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila. The meeting was to kick start a blame game..
The House refused to take the reason adduced by the President for cancelling the ceremony. Reason: the President’s stand indicted the chamber.
President Jonathan had blamed the cancelation on the non harmonisation of oil benchmark in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) by the Senate and House. But swiftly , the latter accused the President of being responsible for the delay in the passage of the document .
The President had sent a letter to both Senate and the House to explain why he would not present the budget estimates to them. The letter was read on the floor of the two chambers by their leaderships.
Part of the letter read:
“Please recall that I had written requesting the Honourable House of Representatives to grant me the slot of 12 noon on Tuesday 19th November 2013 to enable me address a Joint Session of the National Assembly on the 2014 Budget.
“However, considering the fact that, whereas the Distinguished Senate has approved the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) based on a benchmark of $76.5 per barrel, the Honurable House of Representatives has used a benchmark of $79 per barrel, it is infeasible for me to present the budget in the absence of a harmonized position on the MTEF.
“In the circumstance, it has become necessary to defer the presentation of the 2014 Budget to a Joint Session of the National Assembly until such a time when both respected chambers would have harmonized their positions on the MTEF. It is my hope that this will be in the shortest possible time
Please accept, Honourable Speaker, the assurances of my highest consideration and esteem”.
But the spokesman of the House, Hon Zakari Mohammed countered the President’s claims. He said the President should take the blame for the delay in the passage of the MTEF.
Addressing newsmen shortly after the plenary session , he said the document was given to the House in September, stressing that the late submission of the document by the presidency affected the timeframe for its passage.
He said the senate did not pass MTEF last year yet he presented the budget. On when the harmonisation will be done with the Senate, he said a conference committee would be raised to meet with the senate. He said there was no date in sight as to when to expect the presentation. He assured that the House would soon set up a conference committee with the Senate to harmonise the divergent positions on the oil benchmark by the two chambers.
On the speculation that the budget presentation was canceled as a result of intelligence reports that lawmakers belonging to the Baraje-led faction of PDP and the All Progressives Congress (APC) had perfected plans to boo the President over the poor performance of 2013 budget,Mohammed said that it was a rumour. He said there was no move to boo the President over the performance of 2013 budget.
He argued that the House was a respectable chamber, saying neither the opposition nor other members could have booed the President. He dismissed the insinuation that some members were working against the President.
Infact , the APC caucus did not hide the fact that they were prepared to go to any extent to prevent the lowering of oil benchmark from $79. It was also revealed that there were plots to compel the president to go into executive session with the lawmakers after the presentation . The move was said to have been weaved to pin the President down and force him to make some commitments on the budget.
Nobody has confirmed the claim but it is still spreading. Certainly, a flood of reactions have continued to trail the President’s decision. While some lawmakers, especially the President’s henchmen do not see anything wrong in the cancelation of the presentation, lawmakers from the opposition parties as well as members of the nPDP are tackling him over the decision.
Hon Pally Iriase(Edo,APC) argued “The budget presentation is too important for the President not to make the address, considering the fact that there is no State of the Nation address.
“As it stands, the budget presentation is the only avenue for the President to tell Nigerians how the economy is fairing, it is not just about figures alone.
“Nigerians need to know the mindset of their leader and how he intends to tackle the myriad of challenges facing us.
The presentation by the President is the only forum to do that.
“For the President not to make the presentation is to deny Nigerians that opportunity through their representatives.”
In his submission , the Minority Leader, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila said “We have not taken a decision on the MTEF because the the Senate and the House have different positions and we have to reach a joint decision through executive session and harmonization and arrive at a joint position.
“Since the budget is based on the passage of the MTEF, I think the President has given a good and cogent reason for not making it then.
“I don’t know if the House is really expecting the President to make the presentation or not. Yes, there is some talk about that, but to some of us, it is not just about the presentation.
“This is because what we are talking about is integrity. We haven’t realized that it’s not just about our democracy but about the integrity of an arm of government.
“Under the constitution, it is the President that has to lay it and if it is read that ‘causing to be laid’ is interpreted to mean you can send anybody, then that is setting a bad precedence.
“It means that a President can decide to send his wife or any of his Personal Assistants on Domestic Affairs or any of his cronies.
“He may even decide to mail the budget but this is unacceptable. The argument that we had a precedence does not hold water because the President in question was incapacitated and we all knew what happened to him unfortunately.
“It is an exception to the rule. This President is not incapacitated. “
But Hon Kaka Kyari Gujbawu, who represents Maiduguri Federal Constituency in Borno has a different opinion. He declared that the 2014 budget impasse between the executive and legislative arms of government ought not to have reared it’s head had the House acted rightly.
He said “I am on the side of the consensus of opinion that recommended the oil benchmark at $76.5 which emanated from the Joint Committees of the Senate and Reps mandated to come up with a harmonised position on the MTEF.
“My argument against jerking up beyond this limit is inspired by my concern on the immediate and long term consequences to our national economy.
“As you are aware, stabilisation funds like the excess crude oil sales accounts are a critical factor determining the credit worthiness of a nation and the stabilisation funds account with the concomitant risk of poor credit worthiness.”
Another vocal member of the House who chose to be anonymous said “We agreed on Monday night at a caucus meeting that he should come and we will do all that is necessary for him on the floor of the House to enable him present the budget.”
“But some of us insisted that if he must present the budget without the passage of MTEF then some of us may challenge it in court.
“The man is just scared of nothing because a downward review from the initially approved $79 is illogical when there is no sign that the price of oil will fall below a $100.”
Also, Rep Ahmadu Ali, Chairman, House Committee on Justice, PDP, Kwara had this to say:
“This is my saddest legislative moment. An age-long ceremonial event when the entire national political class in the country converge under one roof, an event that is celebrated the world over, is now being reduced to a frivolity.
“ I shudder when they argue that the VP will represent the president in the singular eventful interface. And I am sad when people contend that nPDP will disrupt it . Why?
“This is supposed to be a national event but we are ridiculing all established practices and conventions and denigrating institutions of governance.
“ It is sad. May Allah bring back those days that I will become proud again as a representative of our people.
In his reaction, leader of the nPDP in the House, Rep Andrew Uchendu,PDP, Rivers said, “Mr president’s action was not unexpected since both houses have not really ratified the MTEF.”
“The president wanted to at least hear the final words from both legislative chambers before making his presentation, particularly on the benchmark for crude.”
How long the standoff between the presidency and the lawmakers will last remains an unanswered question. The matter is made worse by the fact that no date has been set for the setting up of a conference committee so that the Senate and the House will bridge their differences on the oil benchmark.
The apprehension in the whole thing is that , with the widening crack in the National Assembly especially in the House of Representatives occasioned by the emergence of nPDP who is technically in marriage with the APC lawmakers , it will be difficult for the National Assembly to arrive at any decision that would be acceptable to the President.
The emerging bitter truth is that the alliance between the APC and nPDP lawmakers in the House means that the President can never get anything from the chamber on a platter of gold.
The budget dispute will not be an exemption.
However, dragging the matter longer than expected or shabby handling by the leadership of the House will certainly hurt the chamber. Surely, this is what the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal would not want to happen. How he prevents it is what the public is waiting to see in days to come.
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