The presidency may have finally caved in to the
demands by members of the National Assembly for
the release of N100 billion meant for constituency
projects before they consider and approve any
request from the executive arm of government.
Several legislative approvals sought by President
Muhammadu Buhari have suffered defeats or delays
in recent weeks, particularly the request for the $30
billion external borrowing plan, the 2017-2019
Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and
Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), and virement of N180
billion in the 2016 budget.
THISDAY gathered that so far, about 50 per cent of
the constituency funds have been quietly released
through the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing,
National Commission for Refugees and other
ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of
government.
Sources told THISDAY that the leadership of the
National Assembly secured commitments from the
presidency for the release of the funds.
“Recall that the Senate President met with the
president several times last week. So the
commencement of the release of the funds would
smoothen the path for the approvals being sought by
the executive,” a source told THISDAY.
The source, however, noted that while the lawmakers
may soft pedal on their initial stance, many of them
remain sceptical that the funds would be completely
released by the finance ministry.
“The sour relations between both arms of
government lingers, so both view each other with
suspicion and do not trust each other. Many of the
lawmakers are however not convinced that all the
money will be released, particularly when
considering utterances of the executive.
“Maybe only some lawmakers will eventually benefit,”
the source explained.
Another source, who confirmed that the constituency
funds were being released, however noted that the
executive arm of government is currently making
efforts to repair its fractured relations with the
legislature.
“Before now, only Dogara (Speaker) and
Gbajabiamila seemed to be the sort of balancing
forces in the legislature, but obviously the Senate
carries more weight.
“If the president cannot have his men there, he has to
find a way to work with whoever is there. The House
alone cannot pass his requests,” the source said.
Indications that the lawmakers may be somewhat
appeased emerged as the leadership of the House of
Representatives yesterday passed a motion
mandating its Committee on Appropriation to
consider the request for the virement of N180 billion.
Other committees to which the virement are related
to would also serve as sub-committees of the
Appropriation Committee to consider the request.
These include the Committees on Nigerian Air Force,
Youth Development, Niger Delta and Works, among
others.
The motion was sponsored by the Majority Leader,
Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who recalled that the
communication from the president requesting the
virement of the funds was read on the floor of the
House on October 25.
Presiding, Deputy Speaker Yussuff Sulaimon Lasun
put the question on whether the prayer should be
accepted. The motion was not subjected to debate as
is normally the practice.
A few lawmakers uttered the “ayes” and Lasun hit the
gravel before allowing any dissenting voice to
register a vote.
No protests however followed the action, indicating
that some lobbying by the House leadership might
have worked.
Gbajabiamila was observed also engaging several
members, including key members of the opposition
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in discussions
before he read the motion.
The request would however be returned to the floor
of the House for consideration of the committee’s
report. At this stage, the request could be accepted
or rejected.
Presenting the motion, Gbajabiamila stated that N180
billion appropriated for special intervention
(recurrent) and special intervention (capital) is to
fund some critical recurrent and capital items.
Gbajabiamila added that the request is intended to
address shortfalls in the Amnesty Programme in the
Niger Delta, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)
orientation scheme, and military operations in the
North-east, among other projects.
“The Nigerian Air Force needs to cover the foreign
exchange differentials in the procurement of its
critical equipment and augment the contingency vote,
and also to provide for the inadequacy in the
provision for the NYSC programme in the 2016,
among others,” he said.
Gbajabiamila further explained that several MDAs
presented issues pertaining to salary shortfalls as it
affects those that are not listed on the Integrated
Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
Also, the House resolved to summon the Director
General of the Budget Office, Mr. Ben Akabueze, over
his directive to heads of agencies of government to
remit treasury capital funds already released to
them.
The DG allegedly directed the management of the
Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to remit
N8 billion to the treasury out of N10.3 billion
released for the execution of capital projects, leaving
the agency with N2.3 billion only.
He is expected to appear before an ad hoc committee
to explain what the House said was a worrisome
trend.
The resolution followed a motion of urgent public
importance sponsored by Hon. Agbedi Frederick
(Bayelsa PDP), who highlighted the compelling need
for FERMA to repair and maintain dilapidated roads
across the nation.
He recalled that the sum of N21.8 billion was
appropriated for the agency in the 2016 budget, of
which N10.3 billion was released in October.
The lawmaker added that the agency had prioritised
its capital projects, and contractors who had
submitted tenders were bound to lose by the
directive of the Budget Office.
“The directive of the DG, Budget Office of the
Federation cannot be said to be virement, as
virement can only be approved by the National
Assembly, which has not done so in this case,”
Agbedi said.
He warned that the planned execution of capital
projects by agencies would be crippled if the
directive is allowed to stand.
Just like the House, the Senate yesterday also
commenced legislation on the president’s request for
virement of N180.8 billion from the 2016 budget.
Accordingly, the Senate mandated its Committees on
Appropriation and Finance to expeditiously treat the
president’s request and submit its report within one
week for final approval.
Buhari had asked the National Assembly to approve
the virement of N180,839,254,439 billion from N500
billion appropriated for the Special Intervention
Programme in the 2016 budget to finance other key
projects.