PLANS by the
House of Representatives to shut down the Federal Government through stalling
of its 2014 budget are to be temporarily lifted tomorrow following the removal
of Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu as the Rivers State commissioner of police.
The removal of
Mbu was one of the conditions the opposition APC insistedon before asking its
members to stall the budget.
The decision to
proceed with the budget was to be endorsed by a six man committee constituted
by Speaker Aminu Tambuwal to advise him on legal bottlenecks earlier raised
against further deliberation of the budget last Wednesday.
The House had,
Wednesday, put off further consideration of the 2014 budget of the Federal
Government on technical grounds raised by Rep. Emmanuel Jime, one of the 37
members of the House who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to the
All Progressives Congress, APC, last December.
Jime, from Benue
State, had alleged that the budget violated provisions of the Fiscal
Responsibility Act by not detailing the budgetary estimates of the Central Bank
of Nigeria, CBN, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
Upon his
observation, Speaker Tambuwal had constituted a six man committee styled as the
six wise men to advise him on the decision to take on the issue.
However, Jime’s
action was traced to a directive by the National Executive Committee, NEC, of
the APC which had, last month, asked its members in the National Assembly to
stall the budget following what it claimed was the reign of impunity in Rivers
State allegedly perpetrated through the former commissioner of police, Mr. Mbu.
Flowing from the
removal of Mbu last Thursday, the APC House leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, and
other senior members of the party welcomed it as a positive development that
would remove the obstacle to the consideration of the budget.
Debating the
budget
Mr. Gbajabiamila
said in a posting on his facebook page at the weekend, “Now we can debate the
so-called budget. As I said earlier, extraordinary and desperate situations
call for extraordinary measures. We have been vindicated that there is more
than one way to skin a cat.”.
In the posting
dated February 7, 2014, he added, “As a party we have adopted a less attractive
but legitimate way when all else failed and it has worked. The people of
Nigeria are the beneficiaries.”
One of the six
wise men constituted by the Speaker, Rep. Sunday Adepoju, APC, Oyo State, told
Vanguard that Nigerians should be hopeful on the outcome of the work of the
committee.
He said, “We are
still working on it. By Tuesday, you will be able to hear what will happen.
Wait and see what happens on Tuesday. We are still meeting. Let Nigerians be
hopeful. We will do what is expected of us. You will know everything on
Tuesday.”
Asked if the
removal of Mbu as the commissioner of police in Rivers State as demanded by the
APC would ease the consideration of the budget, he said, “The issue of removal
of Mbu is one case, the budget is another. That of Mbu has been complied with.
Our party gave us directives on what to do. Now, it has become an issue
for the entire House. So, Tuesday, Nigerians will hear what will happen. I can
not tell you anything. Just wait till Tuesday.”
Another source
in the APC caucus said yesterday, that the removal of Mbu as the commissioner
of police has brought to an end, the regime of impunity and restored peace in
Rivers State as demanded by the APC national leadership. Our aim has been
achieved and we are now ready to work for the best interest of Nigerians
irrespective of party affiliation.” The source added that the whole idea behind
the constitution of the six man panel of wise men was to douse tension.
The APC whip,
Barrister Samson Osagie, on his part described the removal of Mr. Mbu as a
positive development even as he maintained that the report of the six wise men
committee would influence the direction the House would take on the budget
tomorrow.
He said, “It is
a welcome development, it is a matter that was long overdue and it shows the
triumph of reason over impunity and we hope that Tunde Ogunshakin who is taking
over from Mbu will not tread the partisan path of Mbu and that peace and
normalcy, fairness, equity and justice would be brought to the people of Rivers
State. We as a party are very happy with that development and it shows that our
effort has paid off and that all the pressure we brought to bear has paid off.”
Rep. Seconte
Davies representing Bonny/Degema Federal Constituency spoke in the same
direction saying that the legal issues raised must be sorted out first before
the commencement of debate and eventual passage of the Bill to second reading.