Saraki bows to pressure, summons NASS leadership meeting

…To meet with INEC Chairman over request for 2019 polls
…FG may shutdown if NASS fails to reconvene – Presidency
Apparently acting in self-preservation and bowing to pressure from different quarters, the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, has convened an emergency meeting of the leadership of the two chambers of National Assembly.

According to sources close to the Senate President, the meeting, which is expected to have in attendance principal officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives, is scheduled to hold Tuesday (today) in the afternoon.

The source, who confirmed the meeting to The Daily Times, said the meeting would touch on pressing National issues seeking the urgent attention of the National Assembly. It was also confirmed that the officials are expected to meet for one hour at about 12pm.

Meanwhile, owing to the precarious situation facing the next general elections in 2019, the non-approval of fund for the INEC has also contributed to the summoning of the meeting, as the Senate leadership is scheduled to meet with Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, shortly after the National Assembly executive meeting.

The source further revealed that issues expected to be discussed include the string of defections in the political space, the rumoured plan to impeach Saraki and the pending 2019 election 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.

Some APC senators including Ali Ndume and Ahmed Lawal, have insisted that the long adjournment of the National Assembly by Saraki was not in the best interest of the country.

When contacted, the spokesman to Saraki, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu, confirmed that his principal is planning a meeting. He , however, declined to gove details.

The Senate and the House of Representatives proceeded on annual recess on July 24 and announced that it would reconvene on September 25.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives caucus, on Monday, warned against the planned reconvening of the National Assembly by aggrieved senators allegedly bent on removing Saraki, from office following his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP.

House Deputy Minority Leader, Rep. Chukwuka Onyema, in a statement after a meeting of the caucus, said that the procedure for reconvening the National Assembly is unambiguously stated in the rules of both houses which draw their constitutionality from Section 60 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

He said that the caucus has unearthed an impending plot by a group of senators aided by security agencies to again invade the Senate chamber with a view to illegally reconvening the Senate plenary.

He said, “Ostensibly, their purpose is to address what they term as urgent national issues. However, it is clear that their real purpose is an attempt to unlawfully oust the leadership of the Senate and effect a change of the Senate president and the deputy Senate president.

“This trend of events must be strenuously resisted by all true democrats and well-meaning Nigerians. We have over time witnessed a descent of our country’s once stable democracy slide into an abyss of illiberal dictatorship.

A government that has shown disdain for the rule of law and complete disregard for the principles of separation of powers as enshrined in the constitution.

Condemning the planned onslaught on the National Assembly and democracy in general, the PDP House members insisted that when the National Assembly stands adjourned to a fixed date, it may only be reconvened at an earlier or later date when leaders of political parties in the National Assembly make written representation to the presiding officers stating a need to reconvene plenary to attend to matters of urgent national importance.

They added that in such an event, the presiding officers may give notice to members of a date that the National Assembly is to reconvene.

“In the present instance, there has been no such notification to either the Senate president or the speaker of the House of Representatives. Therefore any attempt to operate outside of the rules is illegal.

“It is symbolic of the hideous excesses of this government’s attempt to wither and destroy the institution of parliament and the bastion of our democracy.

“We urge those who are behind the unholy manoeuvre to desist from these shenanigans and be reminded that we still operate a democracy. It is therefore incumbent on all of us as Nigerians to jealousy guard our hard earned democracy,” the lawmakers said.

In a related development, the Presidency has warned that if the National Assembly fails to reconvene and pass President Muhammadu Buhari’s supplementary budget, the government may shut down in some few months.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, gave the warning on Monday after a meeting with the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, alongside Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, at the Presidential Villa Abuja.

The Daily Times recalls that President Buhari had on July 11 sought the approval of N242.45 billion supplementary budget from the National Assembly for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to begin preparations for the 2019 general election.

But the lawmakers on Tuesday, July 24, embarked on a two-month annual recess rather than to act on the virement presented by President Buhari.

Speaking to State House correspondents, Senator Enang re-echoed his earlier appeal to the National Assembly to reconvene and pass the supplementary budget to avoid imminent shutdown of government.

Enang said: “Just in line with what the Senate Leader had said, we are still appealing to the National Assembly to reconvene. You remember that we passed the budget with understanding that the greater amount of it would be gotten by foreign loans.

“Although this was approved that there would be loans, amount to be gotten was not approved. The Fiscal Responsibility Act requires that the President should specifically state the amount the government want to get from foreign loans and present it before the National Assembly.

“That letter has been presented to the National Assembly and the National Assembly has to pass that amount before the money could be obtained from foreign financing institutions.

“This is what we are asking and if it didn’t happen in the next few months, we may have a complete government shutdown. What we are receiving from the Federation Account Allocation Committee as the Federal Government share, the capital component is not enough to sustain even the 15 or 20 percent of the budget.

“So there may be a complete government shutdown and I know that Nigerians are not going to like it. That is why we are still appealing.”

He also confirmed that the APC would receive Senate Minority Leader, and former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, into its fold on Wednesday.

“Now the leader of the Senate has said that they are 53, but I want to assure him that the APC have harvested more people from the PDP and other political parties.

“The head of the PDP in the Senate is formally joining the APC family and that will be in a big ceremony on Wednesday the 8th of August in Akwa Ibom State.

So, the head of the PDP who holds all the documents of the PDP, His Excellency, Distinguished Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio (CON), is coming over with a great team and other minorities will join the APC family and we are good and strong,” the Presidential aide added.

On his part, Senator Lawan while appealing to his colleagues to reconvene and pass the supplementary budget, said the government would be stalled if they fail to pass the President’s request.

According to him, to do otherwise will lead to sabotage of not only the administration, but will lead to sabotage of democracy itself.

He said: “I have come to visit the acting president, you know this is our administration. I have come to brief him on the situation in the Senate and the discussion also considered the need for national assembly to convene immediately for us to pass the virement on the supplementary budget.

“You know that the budget for 2018 the capital aspect will be largely funded by foreign facilities, loans. Now we need to approve that. We also need to approve other important and essential requests especially that of INEC and other security agencies for our security to be improved.

“It is therefore very essential that we reconvene immediately to look into those issues because our government is almost stalled and I believe that if we are able to pass the supplementary budget and virement request from Mr. President, this will enable our administration to provide the various infrastructure that we have planned to provide for Nigerians and also all the other aspects of national development”.

Continuing, he contended: “Because if we cannot provide the essentials for Nigerians, if we cannot provide funds for INEC to plan for the 2019 election, what do we call ourselves?

“Certainly, in the case of INEC for example, INEC could pick some items on the shelves but there are so many important and essential items that INEC will have to place order that could take about two to three months”.

He stressed the need for his colleagues to do the needful and convene the National Assembly immediately in the interest of Nigerians.

The Senate leader further explained that he briefed the acting President on the situation in the Senate as regards the conflicting information coming out from the Senate caucuses.

He also maintained that the APC is still the majority in the Senate with 53 lawmakers, challenging the PDP to come out with their own figures.

He said:”We said we are the majority, the APC caucus, which remains so because we remain 53 senators in the APC caucus and we have given the media the list of everyone.

“I read it about a week ago, every senator’s name was there and his state or her state and the PDP caucus will tell you they are in the majority. I will take this opportunity for the third time to challenge the PDP caucus to publish the names of the PDP caucus members.

“They have never done that, they will only tell you that they are 55, they are 60, they are 65. Publish the names let Nigerians see where their senators are. We have done our own and it is also important that whatever crisis we have in the Senate and indeed in the National Assembly that Nigerians don’t suffer.

“We as politicians can do anything, it is a parliamentary practice. In fact, in Parliament, worse things could happen but Parliaments that are responsible and responsive will always take into account the national interest, work assiduously to ensure that the country does not suffer.

“Here in our case, we have our budget suffering, we are not able to implement anything today because we are not able as a legislature, the National Assembly, to pass the request of Mr. President. So I believe that we should be on the same page with Nigerians, we are not aliens, we are representing Nigerians”.

He, however, added that what Nigerians want today is for this administration to provide those essentials that it has promised and it has started providing, saying the government should plan properly for free, fair and transparent elections in 2019.

Furthermore, Lawan noted: “If we don’t reconvene and pass the request, what that means is that we have turned against this country, we are stalling the administration and invariably, fighting the people because the people want us to do those things that will make them happy.

“So I believe that my colleagues are listening and we should be able to reconvene in the next few days for us to pass the budget request of Mr. President as quickly as possible.

He also denied allegations that some members of the APC in the Senate tried to force themselves into the Senate chambers to impeach the Senate president.

He said, “Did you use the word that some senators attempted to break into the Senate Chamber? I am hearing it for the first time, there is a process going into that chamber, I didn’t hear it before that some senators attempted to break into that chamber.

“Possibly, you must have the names of senators but I want to tell you that we are law abiding and that we will do everything possible in the national interest but we will try to keep within our processes and our procedures”.

When asked what the APC senators would do if the presiding officers do not reconvene the Senate, he said: “The presiding officers are people like you and I.

They are Nigerians, they listen or they should listen. So I don’t even contemplate that the presiding officers will say they will not reconvene the chambers of the National Assembly based on the fundamental and primary request of Mr. President of passing the budget.

”So I believe that the presiding officers should do the needful to reconvene the two chambers of the National Assembly to give us the opportunity to pass the supplementary budget and virement request of Mr. President as quickly as possible,” he added.