The House of Representatives and its leadership are not keen
in joining the Senate in the ongoing standoff between the Red Chambers of the
National Assembly and the Presidency, The Nation gathered yesterday.
The Senate is locked in a battle of wits with the executive
after refusing, on Tuesday, to consider the nomination of Mr. Lanre
Gbajabiamila as Director General of the National Lottery Commission (NLC), and
its insistence on the removal of the acting chairman of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, whose confirmation it had
earlier rejected.
The Senate passed a resolution blocking further
consideration and confirmation of
appointments referred to it by the Buhari administration until further
notice.
At a point during the debate, some senators launched a move
to make Senate President Bukola Saraki acting president of the country.
The move however failed with many Nigerians deploring the
action of the Senators as out of order and an affront on the citizens.
Besides, an alleged plot by the Senate to impeach Acting
President Yemi Osinbajo seems to have hit a dead end following the realisation
that the 1999 constitution makes no provision for the impeachment of an Acting
President.
Highly placed sources in the House of Representatives said
yesterday that its members were no less shocked as other Nigerians by the
action of the Senators.
The sources said Reps were not on the same page with the
Senate in the battle with the presidency.
Speaker Yakubu Dogara and other principal officers are said
to have resolved to stay away from what one of the sources described as an ego
fight by the Senate.
Some members of the House consider some matters raised on
the floor of the Senate as “too personal.”
A principal officer of the House said: “We are not on the
same page with the Senate on what we see as an ego fight. The Speaker and his
team have decided not to join the battle between the Senate and the presidency.
“We actually met and opted out of the fray because it has degenerated
to ego politics, especially on the issue of confirmation of nominees from the
Executive.
“We believe that there are issues which should be left to
the court to decide in line with the principle of separation of powers.
“We do not want Nigerians to look at us as if we are
fighting for the sake of power and ego.’’
The source said the Reps would rather join issues with the
Executive if it fails to implement the budget or other state matters that have
direct impact on Nigerians.
“We will tackle the Executive on roads, employment,
affordable health care, good education, and basic needs for the citizenry,’’ he
said.
“The way the ego fight is going, Nigerians are beginning to
cast aspersions on members of the National Assembly. We are being misunderstood
by Nigerians; they are getting agitated against us. Yet, we are really working
hard but the backlash of the resentment of the public against the Senate is
also affecting members of the House.”
Another ranking member of the House said: “Some of us are
disturbed that certain issues in the Senate are getting personal. For instance,
it was too early for the Senate to take a decision on the recall process
against a Senator.
“If a Senator has a problem with his constituents, let him
go and resolve it. How did the motion on the floor put the food on the table of
Nigerians?
“In some instances, some Senators use derogatory words in
the chamber against the Executive. We cannot follow such a legislative action.”
It was learnt that a similar move against the Executive,
especially the Acting President, was to be made on the floor of the House last
Tuesday but it did not work out.
“I think Dogara prefers engagement with the presidency to
confrontation. This approach has made the Villa to be at home with him. He has
an exceptional maturity to issues,’’ another source said.
“And the presidency has been consulting Dogara constantly on
grey areas or points of disagreement,” the source, a Rep from the South-South
added.
A respected member from the South-East said: “Some of us
have really met with the Speaker and we discovered that we share the same
vision not to join the personal war between some Senators and the presidency.
“Some of those bankrolling this conspiracy against the
presidency have skeletons in their cupboards. Some of them feel bigger than the
Senate having controlled much money at the state level before.
“We told some Senators to keep off the House because we
won’t support any plot against the presidency.”
Investigation in Abuja revealed last night that the Senate
might have hit a roadblock following discovery that there is no provision in
the 1999 Constitution for the impeachment of an Acting President.
The National Assembly can only remove a sitting President or
Vice President based on Section 143 of the constitution.
A top source said: “The Senators plotting the removal of the
Acting President are not even aware that they cannot remove an Acting
President. If they are after Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, they should wait till he
reverts to his position as the Vice President.
‘’The only option the Senators have now is to serve an
impeachment notice on President Muhammadu Buhari, which will be suicidal.
“This is why the Senators must be circumspect or else they will
plunge the nation into crisis.
“Even northerners backing the subtle impeachment agenda
should appreciate the fact that President Buhari is actually the ultimate
target of all the threats from the Senate.
“Let them go through Section 143 before going ahead with
their impeachment plot of which kite was flown on Tuesday.”
Following the
negative reactions to the Tuesday drama in the Senate, its President,
Dr. Saraki on Thursday night held a secret meeting with Acting President
Osinbajo.
The meeting was also preceded by a visit to the Acting
President by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC),
Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, who said he has advised the Senate leadership to
prevail on Senators to lie low in order not to plunge the nation into crisis.
Sources said Saraki met with Osinbajo on “some developments
in the Senate during the week, including the suspension of the consideration of
further nominations by the Executive in protest against the retention of the
Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr.
Ibrahim Magu, and the impeachment threats by some Senators.
Section 143 says: “The President or Vice President may be
removed from office in accordance with the provisions of this section.
“Whenever a notice of any allegation in writing signed by
not less than one-third of the members of the National Assembly is (a)
presented to the President of the Senate (b) stating that the holder of the
office of President or Vice President is guilty of gross misconduct in the
performance of the functions of his office, detailed particulars of which shall
be specified.
“The president of the Senate shall within seven days of the
receipt of the notice cause a copy thereof to be served on the holder of the office
and on each member of the National Assembly, and shall also cause any statement
made in reply to the allegation by the holder of the office to be served on
each member of the National Assembly.”
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