Headwinds Ahead, PDP Senators Join APC in Support of Tambuwal
President Goodluck Jonathan’s stranglehold on the Senate
appears to have finally been broken as the upper legislative
chamber on Tuesday declared support for last week’s
defection of the Speaker of the House of Representatives
Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, from the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Senate also vowed to team up with the House to
impeach the president if doing so eventually becomes an
option the National Assembly has to explore.
This decision was the fallout of the closed-door session held
by the PDP caucus in the Senate in protest of their losses at
last Saturday's congresses of the ruling party in their various
states.
Most of the senators lost out because of the alleged betrayal
by the president whom they said they had supported to the
hilt prior to his emergence as acting president on February
9, 2009 up to this last weekend.
Demonstrating their bitterness towards the president, the
senators shut down the Senate as they boycotted legislative
activities by adjourning sitting without considering a single
item on the Order Paper.
Although plenary was adjourned till Wednesday, the
senators also vowed to repeat the same action today,
threatening that the trend would continue indefinitely until
the president addressed their grievances.
The action is, among others, meant to frustrate the
consideration and prompt passage of the 2015 budget and
Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), as they threatened to also shut
down the government in pursuit of their personal goals.
After the meeting, one of the senators assigned to brief
journalists on its outcome, said with their resolve to
abandon legislative business indefinitely, the president is
not only losing the House of Representatives but has also
lost the Senate, his hitherto stronghold.
He said: “You are aware that we adjourned sitting today.
That is what we will continue to do. President Goodluck
Jonathan has lost the Senate. Since he has left the PDP
structures in the hands of the governors, let the governors
also come and do our jobs. We are going to shut the
government.
“What is it that the president asked that we’ve not given to
him? We are going to show solidarity with the Speaker of
the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal. We
will not sit again. There will be no consideration of the MTEF
(Medium Term Expenditure Framework) and there will be no
budget. We may also begin his impeachment.
“When we invoked the doctrine of necessity, we even
proceeded to give him the full option. We did the same thing
on the state of emergency. But now, he has lost the Senate.
By the time the House of Representatives resumes on
December 3, most of the PDP members in the House would
have lost their return bids and they will quickly move to APC
and populate the party.”
Tuesday’s session was presided over by Deputy Senate
President Ike Ekweremadu, while the Senate President David
Mark was attending the National Council of State meeting at
the Presidential Villa.
However, the senators who said they had the full backing of
their APC counterparts in their resolve to shut down the
chamber, added that if Mark opts to stall the move, he
would have to be abandoned and be left to preside over an
empty chamber.
According to him, following the handover of PDP structures
to the governors and PDP senators stripped of return tickets,
their political careers had been ruined while those of the
governors had again been brightened, insisting that the
governors preferred by the president should also be
deployed to legislate for his government.
The drama started after the chamber had adopted votes and
proceedings for Tuesday, October 28. Thereafter,
Ekweremadu read a letter addressed to Mark by the
president, imploring the Senate to confirm one Okwu Joseph
Nnanna as a Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN).
The Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, who is one
of those who reportedly lost out at the ward congress in his
home state, Cross River, immediately moved the motion
that all items on the Order Paper be stood down and sitting
adjourned till Wednesday to enable them attend a caucus
meeting of PDP senators.
While watchers expected stiff opposition to the motion from
APC senators, as had been the case, they were shocked to
see that the motion was passed; unknown to spectators that
both groups were altogether acting a script.
With the speaker’s retention of his seat and position gaining
traction in the National Assembly, Tambuwal on Tuesday
made a sudden appearance in the precinct of the House.
He appeared in his trademark white attire at the formal
declaration of a one-day public hearing on a “Bill for an Act
to Repeal the Audit Act of 1956 and Re-enact the Audit Act of
2014”.
After delivering his opening address, he took his leave and
did not respond to waiting journalists who besieged him.
Before he departed the venue of the hearing, Tambuwal
harped on the constitutional responsibility of the legislators,
which is making laws to ensure that there is good
governance.
“As parliamentarians, it is our constitutional mandate to
make laws for the peace and the good governance of the
country. The legal mandate to make laws does not
necessarily guaranty the making of good laws,” he said.
He explained that in order to accomplish this task, “it is
necessary for parliament to consult with all the
stakeholders, relevant experts and the general public".
“Besides, it is not enough for us as parliamentarians to
follow the constitutional procedures and processes of
enacting laws. As the
peoples’ representatives, it is
necessary that laws enacted by the National Assembly are
not only valid but legitimate as well.
“It is the general acceptance by you the members of the
public of the laws enacted by us that confer the status of the
legitimacy on such laws. This aspect of law making cannot be
ignored by any responsible
parliament,” he said.
He threw posers about the definition, purpose and
consistency of the bill with the purpose and provisions of
the 1999 Constitution.
In his welcome address, Chairman of the House Public
Affairs Committee (PAC), Solomon Adeola Olamilekan (APC,
Lagos), said the extant Audit Act 1958 “is one of those old
legislations bequeathed to us by the colonial masters”.
He observed that with the advent of technology and
information dissemination, it is no longer adequate, thus the
need to “repeal and re-enact” it in order to make it “more
functional and relevant to our times”.
Meanwhile, House Leader, Hon. Mulikat Adeola-Akande,
tuesday debunked insinuations that she colluded with the
leadership to adjourn sitting till December 3.
Adeola-Akande, who said she only moved the motion for
adjournment in fulfillment of her role as the leader of the
House, explained that she was not told that Tambuwal was
going to defect on¨that day.
According to her, even as the plenary was in session, she
asked her deputy, Hon. Leo Ogor (PDP, Delta), whether it
was true that the speaker was going to defect, but he told
her, “I want to listen to what the person who is on the floor
is saying.”
She explained that although she had learnt of the speaker’s
intention to defect in the media, nobody had told her
anything.
According to her, “I turned to my deputy and said, Leo, is the
speaker not moving again? And he said he was not doing it
again. That was what he told me. And I am saying this
without fear of anybody.”
She narrated that a day before the Speaker's defection, a
meeting was summoned at his residence, to which she
promptly responded. But on getting there, she discovered
that other principal officers were yet to arrive, so she left.
After her departure, she said she got several calls from the
speaker and deputy speaker to return to the residence for
the meeting, which she reluctantly accepted as she was
tired.
At the meeting, Adeola-Akande said the issue of the House’s
adjournment was discussed and it was agreed that the
House would adjourn for two weeks in the first instance.
But the House leader said she was taken aback the next day
when at plenary a different scenario emerged.
“We went into the order of the day and nothing was said
about whether the speaker was moving or not. At the
meeting we had, nothing was said about that. Nothing was
mentioned on whether he was moving or not even though it
was in the air, in the media, and everybody was talking
about it,” the House leader stated.
She expressed dismay that afterwards she heard from
different quarters that “unilaterally” the speaker moved the
motion for adjournment.
“I thought it was necessary to clear the air on this. I have
integrity and I am a very, very honourable person. And I will
not say anything that has not happened,” she said.
Source: thisdaylive
appears to have finally been broken as the upper legislative
chamber on Tuesday declared support for last week’s
defection of the Speaker of the House of Representatives
Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, from the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Senate also vowed to team up with the House to
impeach the president if doing so eventually becomes an
option the National Assembly has to explore.
This decision was the fallout of the closed-door session held
by the PDP caucus in the Senate in protest of their losses at
last Saturday's congresses of the ruling party in their various
states.
Most of the senators lost out because of the alleged betrayal
by the president whom they said they had supported to the
hilt prior to his emergence as acting president on February
9, 2009 up to this last weekend.
Demonstrating their bitterness towards the president, the
senators shut down the Senate as they boycotted legislative
activities by adjourning sitting without considering a single
item on the Order Paper.
Although plenary was adjourned till Wednesday, the
senators also vowed to repeat the same action today,
threatening that the trend would continue indefinitely until
the president addressed their grievances.
The action is, among others, meant to frustrate the
consideration and prompt passage of the 2015 budget and
Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), as they threatened to also shut
down the government in pursuit of their personal goals.
After the meeting, one of the senators assigned to brief
journalists on its outcome, said with their resolve to
abandon legislative business indefinitely, the president is
not only losing the House of Representatives but has also
lost the Senate, his hitherto stronghold.
He said: “You are aware that we adjourned sitting today.
That is what we will continue to do. President Goodluck
Jonathan has lost the Senate. Since he has left the PDP
structures in the hands of the governors, let the governors
also come and do our jobs. We are going to shut the
government.
“What is it that the president asked that we’ve not given to
him? We are going to show solidarity with the Speaker of
the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal. We
will not sit again. There will be no consideration of the MTEF
(Medium Term Expenditure Framework) and there will be no
budget. We may also begin his impeachment.
“When we invoked the doctrine of necessity, we even
proceeded to give him the full option. We did the same thing
on the state of emergency. But now, he has lost the Senate.
By the time the House of Representatives resumes on
December 3, most of the PDP members in the House would
have lost their return bids and they will quickly move to APC
and populate the party.”
Tuesday’s session was presided over by Deputy Senate
President Ike Ekweremadu, while the Senate President David
Mark was attending the National Council of State meeting at
the Presidential Villa.
However, the senators who said they had the full backing of
their APC counterparts in their resolve to shut down the
chamber, added that if Mark opts to stall the move, he
would have to be abandoned and be left to preside over an
empty chamber.
According to him, following the handover of PDP structures
to the governors and PDP senators stripped of return tickets,
their political careers had been ruined while those of the
governors had again been brightened, insisting that the
governors preferred by the president should also be
deployed to legislate for his government.
The drama started after the chamber had adopted votes and
proceedings for Tuesday, October 28. Thereafter,
Ekweremadu read a letter addressed to Mark by the
president, imploring the Senate to confirm one Okwu Joseph
Nnanna as a Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN).
The Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, who is one
of those who reportedly lost out at the ward congress in his
home state, Cross River, immediately moved the motion
that all items on the Order Paper be stood down and sitting
adjourned till Wednesday to enable them attend a caucus
meeting of PDP senators.
While watchers expected stiff opposition to the motion from
APC senators, as had been the case, they were shocked to
see that the motion was passed; unknown to spectators that
both groups were altogether acting a script.
With the speaker’s retention of his seat and position gaining
traction in the National Assembly, Tambuwal on Tuesday
made a sudden appearance in the precinct of the House.
He appeared in his trademark white attire at the formal
declaration of a one-day public hearing on a “Bill for an Act
to Repeal the Audit Act of 1956 and Re-enact the Audit Act of
2014”.
After delivering his opening address, he took his leave and
did not respond to waiting journalists who besieged him.
Before he departed the venue of the hearing, Tambuwal
harped on the constitutional responsibility of the legislators,
which is making laws to ensure that there is good
governance.
“As parliamentarians, it is our constitutional mandate to
make laws for the peace and the good governance of the
country. The legal mandate to make laws does not
necessarily guaranty the making of good laws,” he said.
He explained that in order to accomplish this task, “it is
necessary for parliament to consult with all the
stakeholders, relevant experts and the general public".
“Besides, it is not enough for us as parliamentarians to
follow the constitutional procedures and processes of
enacting laws. As the
peoples’ representatives, it is
necessary that laws enacted by the National Assembly are
not only valid but legitimate as well.
“It is the general acceptance by you the members of the
public of the laws enacted by us that confer the status of the
legitimacy on such laws. This aspect of law making cannot be
ignored by any responsible
parliament,” he said.
He threw posers about the definition, purpose and
consistency of the bill with the purpose and provisions of
the 1999 Constitution.
In his welcome address, Chairman of the House Public
Affairs Committee (PAC), Solomon Adeola Olamilekan (APC,
Lagos), said the extant Audit Act 1958 “is one of those old
legislations bequeathed to us by the colonial masters”.
He observed that with the advent of technology and
information dissemination, it is no longer adequate, thus the
need to “repeal and re-enact” it in order to make it “more
functional and relevant to our times”.
Meanwhile, House Leader, Hon. Mulikat Adeola-Akande,
tuesday debunked insinuations that she colluded with the
leadership to adjourn sitting till December 3.
Adeola-Akande, who said she only moved the motion for
adjournment in fulfillment of her role as the leader of the
House, explained that she was not told that Tambuwal was
going to defect on¨that day.
According to her, even as the plenary was in session, she
asked her deputy, Hon. Leo Ogor (PDP, Delta), whether it
was true that the speaker was going to defect, but he told
her, “I want to listen to what the person who is on the floor
is saying.”
She explained that although she had learnt of the speaker’s
intention to defect in the media, nobody had told her
anything.
According to her, “I turned to my deputy and said, Leo, is the
speaker not moving again? And he said he was not doing it
again. That was what he told me. And I am saying this
without fear of anybody.”
She narrated that a day before the Speaker's defection, a
meeting was summoned at his residence, to which she
promptly responded. But on getting there, she discovered
that other principal officers were yet to arrive, so she left.
After her departure, she said she got several calls from the
speaker and deputy speaker to return to the residence for
the meeting, which she reluctantly accepted as she was
tired.
At the meeting, Adeola-Akande said the issue of the House’s
adjournment was discussed and it was agreed that the
House would adjourn for two weeks in the first instance.
But the House leader said she was taken aback the next day
when at plenary a different scenario emerged.
“We went into the order of the day and nothing was said
about whether the speaker was moving or not. At the
meeting we had, nothing was said about that. Nothing was
mentioned on whether he was moving or not even though it
was in the air, in the media, and everybody was talking
about it,” the House leader stated.
She expressed dismay that afterwards she heard from
different quarters that “unilaterally” the speaker moved the
motion for adjournment.
“I thought it was necessary to clear the air on this. I have
integrity and I am a very, very honourable person. And I will
not say anything that has not happened,” she said.
Source: thisdaylive
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