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There was a dramatic twist to the scheduled appearance of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, before the House of Representatives on Thursday, as lawmakers backed down.Sanusi had been summoned to appear before the House in plenary to defend his statement that 25 per cent of Nigeria’s annual total overhead cost was spent on lawmakers.
But on Thursday, rather than admit Sanusi into its chamber as planned, the lawmakers resolved to refer him to the committees on finance, appropriation, banking/currency and drugs/narcotics/financial crimes.
The committees were mandated to hear the CBN governor and forward a report to the House before December 11.
The U-turn took place after Sanusi, who arrived at the National Assembly about 9.45am, had waited for over one and a half hours in the office of the Clerk of the House, Mr. Sani Omolori.
The sitting of the House, which was fixed for 10am, did not start until 11am. Sanusi‘s case was mentioned by the presiding Deputy Speaker, Alhaji Usman Nafada, at about 11.25am.
Signs of the drama that the day held emerged as soon as Nafada and other principal officers arrived in chamber for the commencement of the day‘s proceedings.
There was anxiety in the chamber as lawmakers moved from row to row, discussing in groups.
Rather than kick-starting the proceedings, Nafada invited at least six lawmakers and the Clerk for a brief meeting.
Those Nafada discussed with were the Chief Whip, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha; the Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Business, Mr. Ita Enang; the Chairman of the Committee on Finance, Mr. John Enoh; the Chairman of the Committee on Banking/Currency, Mr. Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi; and the Chairman of the Committee on Gas Resources, Mr. Igochukwu Aguma.
After the short meeting, the session started formally. Nafada asked the Majority Leader, Mr. Tunde Akogun, to move a motion to usher Sanusi into the chamber.
As Akogun made to move the motion, Aguma interrupted him by raising a ”counter motion.”
When the floor was yielded to him, Aguma looked at the Order Paper of the day and claimed that since there were “more important issues” there was no need to admit Sanusi as earlier scheduled.
He added that the House had also confirmed “this (Thursday) morning” that only 13.8 per cent and not 25 per cent of the recurrent budget was spent on lawmakers.
The lawmaker was not explicit on who confirmed the figure he quoted.
Aguma went on to suggest that Sanusi should be referred to the committees where the issues at stake would be better addressed as against appearing before the entire House.
Just as Nafada was to rule on Aguma‘s motion, Enang interjected by reminding the House that there was no provision for counter motions on the Standing Orders and Rules of the House.
He explained that the only alternative was for Akogun to withdraw his motion for Aguma‘s to be admitted.
Nafada deferred to Enang‘s argument, following which Akogun formally withdrew the motion to invite Sanusi to the chamber.
He was seconded by Mrs. Nkiruka Onyejeocha.
With the development, the House upheld in a majority voice vote to refer Sanusi to the committees.
At the lobby of the National Assembly, Sanusi, who was crowded by some of his aides said, “I will come back.”
He tried to flee from journalists, who chased him right to the entrance of the lobby, seeking for further comments.
He was then ambushed and stopped from entering his vehicle until he had offered a few more words.
He said, ”There is nothing to say; it will be disrespectful to the House to speak on an issue that has been referred to a committee.
“I will come back on Monday; thank you all.”
Meanwhile, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties has said that the current set of lawmakers have turned the National Assembly into a ‘trade centre.’
The National Publicity Secretary of the CNPP, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, in an email on Thursday, advised the lawmakers to focus on how to reduce their jumbo pay and allowances rather than haunting Sanusi
Okechukwu was reacting to the National Assembly’s invitation to the CBN governor over his comment.
He said that Sanusi did not say anything new about the huge amount of money being spent on lawmakers.
He challenged them to prove to Nigerians that their salaries were in accordance with the “emolument and allowances benchmark prescribed by the Federal Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission.”
Similarly, the National Publicity Secretary of the Afenifere Renewal Group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, challenged the National Assembly members to disclose their income to justify their claim that the CBN governor was wrong.
He said that before Sanusi’s comment, Nigerians had complained in bitter terms about the disparity between the salary of elected public office holders and others.
He called on Nigerians to take the issue very seriously because of its negative impact to the nation.
The Congress for Progressive Change has also called on the National Assembly to publish, in details, facts concerning the basic salaries and allowances of its members.
On Thursday, the CPC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Aghanya Dennis, said, “This observation has become very necessary in view of the recent summoning of the CBN governor by the Senate to explain his claims that 25 per cent of overhead of the government’s revenue is spent on the National Assembly.”
The statement noted that constituted authorities should be allowed to function without any form of intimidation from any arm of government.
“Instead of summoning him in the usual manner of the National Assembly, his office should have been simply asked to forward its records to substantiate his claims,” the statement added.
The party further called on Nigerians “not to be intimidated by the incessant summoning by the National Assembly as they were selected to represent us” .
It noted, however, that one of the ways “the members can be effective in the discharge of their functions was through such observations like that of the Sanusi.”
“By our understanding, the National Assembly has housing, furniture, car, sitting, travelling, and wardrobe etc allowances. These are the things Nigerians want to have detailed knowledge of,” it said.
Story by:
John Ameh and Fidelis Soriwei
From "Punch Newspaper" Friday, 3 Dec 2010
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