By Jerry Uwah
Nigeria’s National Assembly has become something of a policeman, executive and law court rolled into one. Last week the House of Representatives summoned the minister of power, works and housing, Babatunde Fashola, to appear before it. Fashola is not being summoned to defend his ministry’s budget. Th at has since been done. Th e lawmakers want the minister to stand trial for condemning the budget padding by the National Assembly. Fashola had angrily questioned the lawmakers’ understanding of the budgetary process.
Th e house regards his outburst as an insult and complained that the minister’s statement has reduced the reputation of members before right thinking Nigerians. Th at is the layman’s defi nition of what lawyers call libel. When an ordinary person is libeled, he clears his name by fi ling a law suit in court and allowing the accuser to argue his case before an unbiased adjudicator. Th e House of Representatives would rather be the accuser, the investigator, the prosecutor and even the judge in its case against Fashola.
Th e decision to summon the minister over his complaints about unconstitutional budget padding by the National Assembly borders on abuse of power on the part of the lawmakers. Th ey have exceeded the limits of their oversight functions. No responsible minister who inherited thousands of kilometers of dilapidated roads and eternal darkness in the land would silently watch the budget for the construction of roads and power plants being ruthlessly slashed to accommodate the sinking of boreholes and building of primary health care centres. If the house feels off ended or libeled by Fashola’s reaction, it should go to court and clear its name rather than waste the minister’s time in a kangaroo court trial on its fl oor.
Th e Senate is on the same page with the House of Representatives. Just after the lower house summoned Fashola for the brewing Kangaroo trial, the Senate met and agreed to let the house “handle” the minister. Danjuma Goje, chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation gloated about reopening the trial if the House of Representatives failed to “handle Fashola” appropriately. Th e former governor of Gombe state warned Fashola to behave like a minister and not the governor of Lagos State.
He reminded him that unlike the Lagos State House of Assembly, Fashola is now dealing with a house studded with former governors. Goje probably forgot that Fashola as a former governor of Lagos State had managed a budget larger than that of the three ministries merged into one under his watch. Th e Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) is like the United Nations general assembly. In the UN, President Piere Nkurunziza of Burundi is equal to Donald Trump of the United States. But the whole world knows that some presidents are more equal than others. Th e same is the situation with the governors’ forum. All governors are equal, but some are more equal than others.
As a former governor of Gombe State, Goje presided over an economy about the size of Alaba International Market in Lagos. He is no match for Fashola who presided over the sixth largest economy in Africa and excelled. He took it to greater heights. Th e minister’s complaint about the introduction of irrelevant projects into the budget after all the ministers had defended it, is of serious concern to well-informed Nigerians. Th e situation is worsened by the meddlesomeness and obscene profl igacy of the lawmakers.
Th ey did not only divert money into irrelevant constituency projects, but selfi shly padded their own budget with N10 billion. Th e senate on its part has arrogated to itself responsibilities that belong to other arms of government. During the ill-fated trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki, the senate tried to usurp the role of the National Judicial Council (NJC). In an apparent meddlesome bid, the senate ignorantly invited Danladi Umar, the chairman of the tribunal, to appear before it and defend his rulings on the myriads of trial-within-trial instigated by the defence team. It was public outcry that forced the lawmakers into humiliating retreat. Right now, the senate is ignominiously laboring to teach the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) its constitutional role in the recall of members of the National Assembly.
Despite unequivocal provisions in the constitution and the Electoral Act, senators erroneously believe that Dino Melaye could only be recalled when voters in Kogi West Senatorial District convince lawmakers that the controversial senator does not represent them adequately. Ironically, no provision of the law gives the senate such role in the recall process. Like the election of members of the National Assembly, the recall process is purely the responsibility of registered voters and the umpire, INEC. When INEC conducts an election and voters choose their representatives, they have no business convincing the senate to accept them.
Th e senate president would only be alerted of the decision for information purpose. Th e same thing occurs in the recall process. Once the voters and the umpire follow the due process to recall a member, the senate has no powers to reject the decision. Th e recalled member can only challenge the decision in court. Th e National Assembly has become rather too meddlesome and indecently profl igate. Th e rancor with the executive over the illegal padding of a budget that had been defended before lawmakers is absolutely unnecessary.
