Unending Budget Bickering

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1 Highlights of the 1st Gallery Colloquium on Budgetary Reforms ORDERPAPERTODAY Citizens Parliament Democracy ISSN: Vol 1. No. 2 DECemBer 15, 2016 My Investigation Led to Salisu Buhari s Ouster- Duru How and Why Lagos Lost Bid for Special Status Reps Clerk Who Spent Three Days in Office Unending Budget Bickering Senate Slams Buhari s MTEF Padding Controversy Lingers Fears over 2017 Budget Get up-to-the-minute updates on the Parliament on Facebook.com/Orderpaper

2 2 ORDERPAPERTODAY December 15, 2016 December 15, 2016 ORDERPAPERTODAY 3 Editor s Note Another window to engage It is my pleasure to introduce this edition of ORDERPAPERTODAY to you. This publication is an offshoot of the mother medium- OrderPaper.ng - and offers one more window of interface between citizens and elected representatives in Parliament. That you have this newspaper in your hand gives us a sense of satisfaction and encouragement that our modest effort to deepen the democratic space is being rewarded with your attention. For this we say thank you. This publication has been inspired by the wide and warm acceptance which the promotional edition received across the country and amongst various stakeholders. Suffice to say, that edition was actually intended as a commemorative package published specifically for the First Gallery Colloquium which held on September 26, 2016 in Abuja. But alas, it has turned out to be the opening of another window of engagement between electors and the elected in the National and State Assemblies. We make a solemn promise to keep you satisfied and continually expectant of a fresh and sizzling package going forward. This edition being an inspiration of the Gallery Colloquium therefore, offers reportage of that epoch event with the theme, Reforming the Budgetary Process for Accelerated Economic Development. We serve you the Communiqué; a wrap-up of entire proceedings, photographs and select speeches. Be assured that it is a collectors item you don t want to keep loosely. Because this edition may rightly be described as the Budget Issue, the cover story focuses on the unending bickering over the 2016 budget which unfortunately, is spilling into the 2017 fiscal plan. You will also find interesting sections and columns like Bills Board, Reports and Reviews, Interviews (OnTheSpot), Profile, and snippets of what is happening in the bureaucracy of the Parliament (BackroomBureau), among others. Whilst we enjoin you to enjoy the articles in this edition, we also crave your indulgence to share your thoughts with us. We definitely count on your opinions, suggestions and criticisms to make this platform more engaging and worthwhile for all of us. Please note that you can download this edition in full on our website: where you can also keep abreast of happenings in the legislature on a per-second basis. Once again, thanks for your time and the confidence reposed in us. Till the next edition comes your way again, do have a great time and we wish you a happy yuletide season. Oke Epia Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, ( o.epia@orderpaper.ng; COMMENTS/FEEDBACK Got comments/questions on any of our stories? Or want to make contributions and opinions on topical national issues? Or simply want to share news tips or story ideas with us? Kindly contact us via info@orderpaper.ng & editor@orderpaper.ng. Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/orderpaper; Telephone: Buhari Abaribe Kanu On South-east Senators, IPOB Killings and Amnesty International The elected Igbo men in both houses are not living up to their billing. The purpose of their being there is defeated since they cannot discuss the issues facing the South-East whom they claim they are representing. If not for the likes of the Amnesty International that opened up the cankerworm against the Ndi- Igbo, where had Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and his South-east caucus been all this while the killing of the Igbos were going on? Are they just hearing the news of the killing for the first time? It is a shame that the South-East have lost real people of Ndi-Igbo representing them in both federal houses. May Chukwu Abia-Ama that brought this Amnesty International to beam their search light on this constant killing of defenceless Ndi-Igbo, fulfil the purpose of bringing the matter to the entire world. May God hear the prayers of defencelss people all over the world. Justice Ikwumelueze ( Of Senate and Special Status for Lagos The truth, however, is that the need to accord a special status for Lagos is more of a national project. There is hardly any Nigerian that doesn t have a stake in Lagos. A special federal grant for Lagos is, therefore, a necessary blueprint for the development of the country. Being the pane through which the whole world views the country, granting a special status to Lagos remains the best possible way to drive Nigeria s development as Lagos is the country s most industrialized city with needs that align with national growth and development. On the position that Lagos State already has sufficient resources to meet its needs, it is important to affirm that the population, cosmopolitan and commercial standing of the state put a huge pressure on both its resources and infrastructure. The present downturn in the national economy equally exerts further pressure on Lagos as many see the City State as a place that offers a glimpse of hope for economic survival. Consequently, according to a recent survey, Lagos witnesses the influx of about 25, 000 people daily from all walks of life. It is, therefore, hoped that the upper chamber and other critical stakeholders would rise above sentimental considerations and treat the issue at stake more dispassionately. As it earlier established, in order to ensure that new windows are opened for development and growth in the national economy, it is only rational that the Federal Government constructively engages Lagos for a partnership that would enhance the prosperity of not only the state but the country at large. Given the centrality of Lagos to the overall social-economic aspiration of Nigeria, this remains the way forward. Tayo Ogunbiyi, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Lagos State ( On North East Development Commission We always politicize issues in this nation; the idea of NDDC was arranged because of environment effect from oil exploration which all Nigeria states are beneficiaries. I think we are not making sense if we are talking on how to rebuild this section (north east) of our country from national fund by voting money for the rebuilding of this area of our nation; this is very wrong. Wrong in the sense that it s not a natural disaster; its caused by the people of this region who are not adequately informed, educated on the effect of war or violence; as a failure of their parents, leaders and government who failed to properly train their children. If care is not taken other zones will come up with another militancy approach for financial gain. it should be discouraged. Aare Oyedele Muteeu ( Trends&Briefs...excerpted from OrderPaper.ng Mayor for Abuja as Senate receives constitution amendment report OrderPaperToday - The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja may be governed by an elected mayor if a constitutional amendment proposed to the senate sails through. This is part of the recommendations of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review which submitted an interim report in plenary on Thursday. The Constitution Review Committee, chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, also made sundry other recommendations including amendments on federal appropriation, local government councils, the legislative lists, and template for national savings, among others. Ekweremadu told the senate that the final copy of the constitution amendment bill will be ready after harmonization is done with the House of Representatives committee. Speaking further on the recommendations, Ekweremadu said: In line with the Committee s decision to disaggregate constitutional amendment proposals into different bills, we consolidated and clustered amendment proposals into appropriate thematic and sectional heads. While some amendment proposals were incorporated into existing Senate Bills, others were grouped thematically. Additionally, some amendments that could not fit into any of the above classifications were produced as stand-alone bills. Those stand-alone bills contain amendment proposals which we deem contentious, hence the need to isolate them from other proposals. These clusters are given different short titles such as Fourth Alteration Bill No.1, 2, 3, etcetera. The reason for this is to ensure that the rejection of a group of sections dealing with an issue does not affect other clusters dealing with different unconnected issues. This is to forestall the unsavory experience of the Fourth Alteration Bill as passed in the 7th Assembly, which after satisfying the provisions of section 9 of the 1999 Constitution as amended was not assented to by the then President. Details of the report laid showed that the committee recommended a uniform 3-year tenure for elected local government council officials. It also suggested that Local Governments without a democratically elected councils should not be entitled to any revenue from the Federation Account. The committee recommended amendment of sections 256, 299, 300, 301 and 302 of the Constitution to create the office of an elected Mayor for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with powers to administer the area as if it were a State of the Federation by exercising all functions presently administered by the Minister of the FCT. The committee made a provision for national savings of 50 per cent of oil revenues above the bench mark for a particular year and 10 per cent of any non-oil revenue paid into the Federation Account. It amended sections 82 and 122 Ekweremadu of the Constitution to reduce the period within which the President or a Governor may authorize the withdrawal of monies from the Consolidated Revenue Fund in the absence of an appropriation act from 6 months to 3 months. Essentially, this will compel early presentation of budget proposal by the Executive arm of government thereby giving the legislature sufficient time to scrutinize such proposal, Ekweremadu noted. The report said sections 134 (4) & (5), 179 (4) & (5) and 225 have been amended to Extend the time for conducting presidential and Governorship re-run elections where no clear winner has emerged from 7 to 21 days to give INEC sufficient time to plan, considering the logistics that is required such as printing and transporting new ballot papers for the elections. It also empowered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to de-register political parties for non-fulfillment of certain conditions such as breach of registration requirements and failure to secure/win either a presidential, governorship, Local Government chairmanship or a seat in the National or State Assembly elections. Also, section 121 of the Constitution has been amended to guarantee a first line charge funding of State Houses of Assembly from the consolidated revenue fund of the State. If it is passed, it will free state legislatures from the grip of state governors. Sections 147 and 192 of the Constitution were amended to Ensure that the President and Governors designate and assign portfolios to persons nominated as ministers or commissioners respectively prior to confirmation by the Senate or State House of Assembly. It also provided a period of 60 days within which such nominations shall be forwarded to the Senate or State House of Assembly following inauguration And 35 per cent representation for women in the appointment of ministers and commissioners. Sections 51, 67, 93 and 315 were amended to Create the National Assembly Service Commission and the State House of Assembly Service Commission and empower the National Assembly and State House of Assembly respectively to provide for the powers and structure of the Commissions through subsequent legislations. It has also made it mandatory for the President to attend a joint meeting of the National Assembly once a year to deliver a State of the Nation Address and removed the lawmaking power of the executive arm of government under S The extant provision is starkly contrary to Section 4 of the Constitution which confers law-making powers exclusively on the legislature. The committee also tinkered with Sections 233, 237, 247, 251 and Part I of the Third Schedule of the Constitution were amended to Provide for all appeals from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court to be by leave of the Supreme Court except in the case of Interpretation of the Constitution, death sentences and fundamental human rights. It also proposed that two justices of the Court of Appeal sitting in chambers to dispose any application for leave to appeal after considering the records of proceedings if the justices believe the interest of justice does not require an oral hearing of the application. Also, it resolved to establish a criminal division of the Federal High Court to try electoral offences, terrorism cases, economic and financial crimes cases and provide for appeals from the decisions of the National Industrial Court to the Court of Appeal. According to the report, 12 Justices of the Court of Appeal are to be learned in Labour and Employment Matters for the purpose of hearing appeals from the National Industrial Court and put the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) under the control of the judiciary instead of the executive. Second Schedule, Part I and II of the Constitution were altered to decongest the Exclusive Legislative List to give more powers to states. This enhances the principle of federalism and good governance. It substituted Post and Telegraphs with Post and Telecommunications, and moved Pensions, Prisons, Railways, Stamp Duties and Wages from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List and added Arbitration, Environment, Healthcare, Housing, Road Safety, pensions, Land and Agriculture, Youths, Public Complaints to the Concurrent List. Recall that the Seventh National Assembly had concluded a cluster of amendments to the constitution which former President Goodluck Jonathan declined to sign it into law. Kwara lawmakers move to improve welfare of disabled OrderPaperToday - A Bill for an Act to establish the office for Disability Affairs in Kwara State has passed through second Reading in the the House of Assembly. Speaking on the general principles of the the bill, its sponsor, Aisat Ibrahim urged members to ensure the passage of the proposed law. Ibrahim who is the member representing Ilorin East Constituency in the Assembly said the bill if passed would guide against any form of discrimination against disabled in the state. The lawmaker added that the bill would make them have access to all public facilities and provide for a central agency that would address all issues relating to them. She said contravention of the provisions of the law would attract a fine of N100,000 or three month imprisonment or both. Members representing Ilorin North West and Ilorin Central Constituencies Mr. Abdul Rafiu Abdul Rahman and Hajia Segilola Abdul Kadir agreed that the bill would ensure provision of amenities for people with special needs, grant OrderPaperToday - The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) on Tuesday it temporarily raised the price of data to protect consumers from unhealthy price war that could lead to monopoly. The position of the NCC was made known by its Executive Vice Chairman, Professor Umar Dambatta during an appearance before the Senate Committee on Communications. Recall that the Committee was mandated by the Senate last week to investigate a sudden hike in data tariff by the NCC. Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Solomon Adeola, who presided at Tuesday s hearing noted that the public outcry which followed th data price increase necessitated the exercise. But Dambatta told the hearing that the intervention of the NCC was designed to protect the interest of consumers. He noted that if prices remained cheap, small operators may face difficulties coping and thereby force bigger operators to form monopolies. He stressed that the need to avert crisis in the telecom industry informed the decision to introduce interim price floor for data services at N0.90k per BM. He said: We wanted to protect the Nigerian consumer from Ali Ahmed them access to education, cultural right and abhor any form of segregation. Speaker of the Assembly, Ali Ahmad, who described the bill as promised kept with the disabled said the legislature had earlier identified with them on the International Day for Disabled and expressed confidence that the law would improve their wellbeing We raised data price to protect consumers NCC unhealthy price war in what may lead to a monopoly that may lead us to the days of NITEL. We did not increase any price but merely provided a regulatory standard to protect small telecom operators. Noting that some telecom operators that lacked the capacity to compete with the big operators in the field, Dambatta said that the N0.90k price floor for purchase of data was a benchmark below which no operator could sell. He explained further: We said in the interim directive measure that no operator should sell below 90k per megabite. There was a price war in the market; that was why we issued the interim directive. A situation where a dominant operator provides services far below what is obtainable in the sector in order to attract more customers may lead to a situation where smaller operators will be forced to shut down. Dambatta however noted that there was a mix up of the interim directive because of instead of increase the Commission wanted reduction in price of tariff to create a balance between big and small operators. He stressed that NCC did not set any price ceiling but simply provided a price law. We stepped in when we noticed price war in the sector. The price war was already reaching undesirable level that we had to step in to prevent a monopoly like the days of NITEL, he stated. The interim floor price, according to him, has been suspended temporarily to allow for further consultations and that NCC would conduct extensive research to come up with a price floor that would be acceptable to Nigerians.

3 4 ORDERPAPERTODAY December 15, 2016 December 15, 2016 ORDERPAPERTODAY 5 FollowTheFunds Reports&Reviews On Wednesday, October 5th, 2016, the Senate shocked Lagosians when it shut down a bill that made a case for special federal grants to be given to Lagos State in recognition of its strategic socio-economic significance to the country. The bill which was sponsored by Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who represents Lagos Central in the Red Chamber and titled, A bill for an act to make provisions for Federal Grants to Lagos state in recognition of its strategic socio-economic significance and other connected purposes, was read for the second time on that fateful day when lawmakers overwhelmingly voted against it. Lawmakers, predominantly drawn from the North, South-east and Southsouth, led the offensive against the bill. Senator Tinubu in her lead debate had argued that Lagos is of strategic social economic significance as the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria. Today Lagos serves as the commercial capital of Nigeria and its major nerve centre. The strategic importance of Lagos state is inherent in several sectors of the economy. Available statistics indicates that 6 out of 10 international passengers arrive in Lagos why 8 out of 10 depart from Lagos. This shows that Lagos is the window through which visitors travelling in and out of Nigeria leave the country. Making a strong case on why Lagos should be given a special status, she had argued: According to a FIRS report in 2008, 86.2 percent company income taxes were collected in Lagos alone while 56.7 percent value added tax was collected in Lagos. Key sectors of the economy namely manufacturing, construction, telecommunications, financial institutions and insurance are domiciled in Lagos. Lagos also plays a major role as host to sporting, entertainment and cultural events. It is also the home of hospitality given the numerous hotels and restaurants located within the state. She had further explained: The bill allows the grants payable to be determined by the President and Commander in Chief on the recommendation of the Governor of Lagos state with the proviso that recommends the modest amount not less than 1 percent of the share of the revenue accruing to the federal government. The amount is payable upon appropriation by the National Assembly. This grant will be utilised in meeting the public infrastructural need of Lagos state. For example improving on rail infrastructure to decongest the roads and for promotion of the conducive social economic environment for federal institutions as well as increased the State s capacity to continue to play host. The bill also establishes a joint committee which members both the President and the Governor of Lagos state appoints. The committee will present an annual report to the president for information outlined in the bill. The Lagos Senator was yet to conclude her debate when lawmakers started scrambling to speak on the contentious bill. In his contribution, Senator Gershon Bassey from Cross River State, opposed the bill. He argued that if Lagos state must be given a special status and allocated more funds, Cross River, The Lagos Special Status Bill: Why and How it Died Remi Tinubu having the status of a former Federal Capital Territory (FCT), should be accorded the same recognition. His position was supported by Senator Aliyu Wammako from Sokoto State. In his remarks, Senator Wammako said the timing of the bill was wrong. He said many states were unable to pay workers salaries and meet other financial obligations, hence the passage of the bill was wrong. He said: I oppose this bill for so many reasons. The timing is wrong. They are bringing this bill at a time states cannot pay salaries. The country is going through economic hardship and I do not think it is good. I stand against this bill. If this bill is passed, it will make other states poorer and Lagos richer. Senator Hope Uzodima from Imo state, in his submission, said if Lagos is given a special status, other states like Enugu, Zamfara, Ekiti will ask for similar financial support and assistance. If we go and approve a bill like this, states like Zamfara, Enugu and other states will begin to ask for support and assistance. I think we should look at the assets in Lagos state and see how the Federal Government can assist Lagos state to augment what its doing, he had said. Speaking in favour of the bill however, Senator Solomon Adeola from Lagos, said the state accommodates every tribe in Nigeria. He further argued that since Lagos will soon be regarded as a mega city, it was only fair Saraki for the Federal Government to grant special financial assistance to it. He said: Almost every tribe of this country is represented in Lagos state. The Igbos, Hausas and Yorubas are beneficiaries. I know that the economic situation in Nigeria calls for caution. But this bill is not Lagos as a state, but for the people living there. Very soon, Lagos will be recognized as a mega city. But for us to get that status, we need to put certain things in place. Barnabas Gemade from Benue state also supported the bill. He said: In my opinion, Lagos has been pushed to a point. Therefore, demanding for a contribution of one per cent is not too much. Senate Minority Whip, Senator Philip Aduda, said he will only support the bill if FCT would get similar attention and special funding from the Federation Account. I am supporting this bill. I will support it on one condition that what will be given to Lagos state should be given to other states like the FCT. Some special allocations should be given to FCT. FCT is over stretched and government needs to intervene. In the FCT, we have riverine areas, he maintained. But former governor of Nasarawa state, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, renewed the opposition stance when he argued that the passage of the bill would be unconstitutional. He therefore urged his colleagues to oppose it. I sympathize with the bill. Ordinarily, I would have thrown my weight behind the bill 100 per cent. The National Assembly does not have the jurisdiction to make any laws that makes any part of the country dip its hands into the federation account. The constitution is clear on it. This bill is suggesting one per cent of the totality accruing to the federal pool. The allocation of the Federal Government can be extended to meet the needs of states like Lagos, he said. At this point, Senator James Manager from Delta state, raised a point of order. From the onset, let me say it that I am in full support of this bill, but there is a constitutional problem. Section 164 (1) makes it clear. It states that the federation may make grants to states or local to supplement the revenues as may be prescribed by the National Assembly. For us to come up with a specific law for a particular state I want to say from experience, different grants have been given t different states. But we have not been able to make laws in this regard. If we are to do otherwise, it means we have to amend that aspect of the constitution, he explained. Weeks after the bill was defeated, pundits are yet to come to terms with what may have led to its rejection. For some, the defeat of the bill was believed to have been spurred by Senator Olusola Adeyeye s position on the issue. Adeyeye who is the Chief Whip of the Senate, in his intervention, had accused some former northern governors who are now lawmakers of passing laws to stop the sale and consumption of alcohol. He had also argued that such states should therefore not benefit from Value Added Taxes (VAT) paid by alcohol consumers in states like Lagos. He equally made a case that like oil producing states, Lagos should get 13 per cent from taxes paid into the Federation Account. I do not even believe that one per cent is enough for Lagos state. But we have to be fair to Lagos state. We must not kill the chicken that lays the golden eggs. We have a governor here who made a law that alcohol should be banned in the state. But the state where such a law was made should not benefit from VAT gotten from sale of alcohol in states where it is banned. States who contribute should get 13 of VAT like oil producing states, he had argued. While his colleagues were yet to recover from his first position, Adeyeye released another salvo when he said the FCT is a rotten pampered child. At this point, the chamber became rowdy, but Adeyeye continued and added that that in Abuja, we do not pay taxes and Nigerians subsidize everything here. I am serious. In Asokoro and other places, people do not pay taxes. For about ten minutes, Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu who presided, tried in futility to calm angry lawmakers who were engaged in a shouting match. Ekweremadu had to break CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 The National Assembly has begun an inquisition into alleged corruption, embezzlement and diversion of funds and aid to millions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) across the North-east part of Nigeria. Reports of malnutrition, hunger, threats of epidemic and deaths have issued from several of the IDPs camps dotted across the region. Grim and gory images of malnourished children and dingy camp sites reinforced reports of a looming catastrophe by international aid agencies especially the Red Cross. All these were happening in spite of the allocation of billions of naira by the federal government to help the IDPs and ultimately resettle them into settlements that has been retaken from the terrorists by the military. Significantly, there is the Presidential Initiatives on the North -east (PINE) under the supervision of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Soon enough, reports of diversion of food and other supplies meant for the IDPs began to surface in the media; and in no time, it appeared embezzlement, misappropriation and misapplication of funds for the unfortunate victims of the over six years boko haram terror campaign had become an embarrassing item of concern among Nigerians. It was against this background that the National Assembly was jolted to begin a probe. Both the Senate and House of Representatives separately set off on this mission to find out the truth about funds appropriated for IDPs. In the House of Representatives, a standing committee specially constituted for the North-east under the current leadership of Speaker Yakubu Dogara, soon sprang into action following a referral from plenary. Unfortunately, a public investigative hearing on October 6, 2016 by the Sani Zoro-led Committee on IDPs and the North East Initiatives recorded the absence of some key stakeholders expected to provide much needed explanations on what happened to funds appropriated for welfare of the IDPs. Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), David Babachir particularly drew the ire of the committee which said it was baffled by his failure to even send a representative to the hearing. The SGF s absence however reinforced questions about how some N12 billion allocated to address the challenges of the IDPs were spent by PINE. Specifically, answers could not be provided as to how the sum of N270 million could be spent on clearing of grass; The Lagos Special Status Bill: Why and How it Died CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 parliamentary protocol by standing up in order to restore sanity to the troubled chamber. Another school of thought holds the strong view that Senator Tinubu s posture and sometimes arrogant mannerism may have been responsible for the outright defeat. Unlike other lawmakers who usually build support when sponsoring important bills or motions, Senator Tinubu, it was gathered, did not consult any member. The ghost of her fallout with the Senate President, Bukola Saraki in June, 2015 when lawmakers were sworn-in is still believed to be hunting and hurting her. Recall that she declined to shake hands with Saraki when she was sworn-in, as against the normal practice. That incident did not go down well with key supporters of Saraki, who are believed were yet to forgive her misdeeds. Besides that, Mrs. Tinubu is believed not to maintain sufficiently cordial relationship with Senators, especially those drawn from the north. Her most recent face-off with Senator Dino Melaye further alienated her. There are however questions. Barely Can the National Assembly Track Billions of Stolen IDPs Funds? three weeks after the bill was defeated, the Senate passed the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) Bill which empowers the federal government to set up a commission to rebuild the North-east region following its devastation by Boko Haram terrorists. The bill provides that the commission should be funded by 3 per cent of the federation s value added tax (VAT) for a period of ten years. Angered by the development, the three Senators representing Lagos state, kicked against the approval of the 3% VAT for the NEDC for when an earlier request for 1% VAT for Lagos was rejected by the same Chamber. But such protest can only be for the media because according to the Senate Standing Rules, Mrs. Tinubu will have to wait for at least one year before she can represent the bill. Pundits however posit that the cantankerous wife of former Lagos State governor may be able to build the needed consensus to push the bill through if she stoops enough to buy the support of her colleagues. Until then, Lagos will have to wait for the prospect of more special funding from the federal purse. and another N188.6million for Nigerian Refugees living in Minawao, the Republic of Cameroon. Mr. Zoro was understandably furious: The SGF who was slated to have appeared hasn t shown up, neither did he write to intimate us on why his office would not come to explain why issues of internally displaced persons have remained un-encouraging, despite the billions of naira claimed to have been spent. We have been inundated by reports of diversion of materials and funds meant for the rehabilitation of the IDPs, and the North East and the scandal had led to international embarrassment for the country. Given the issues of credibility and integrity raised against the agency in charge of the Northeast initiative (PINE) which falls under the SGF s office, we had expected him (Babachir) to respect the invitation of the National Assembly to shed light on grey areas. At the hearing, the Executive of Secretary of the PINE, Mr. Umar Musa Gulani disclosed that N270million was used to award a contract for the removal of 250km of invasive plant species along river channels and simplified village irrigation scheme (phase II) in Komadugu Basin in Yobe State. Committee members were visibly dissatisfied with such disclosure and responded through their chairman accordingly: We are of the opinion that the expenditure of the magnitude you have made is not justified. It s not acceptable that you would spend such a huge amount of money on the clearing of weeds, while 2.5million of internally displaced victims of terror go hungry, have no shelter and medical care. The SGF however remained unavailable to make explanations on these grave matters of alleged misappropriation of billions of naira. His refusal to appear before the committee soon took another dimension following reports of bribery alleged against the House Committee. When the allegations were gaining ground, Chairman Zoro was forced to react by declaring that I have not received any allegations of extortion from any government official against members of the committee under my leadership, since we were constituted in September, last year. If true, the dubious plan being hatched should therefore be seen for what it is: an afterthought. As for media report about the misapplication of over N250 million on a contract for removal of grass along an irrigation channel, awarded by PINE, in Yobe state, it is to be noted that the case is already a subject of public hearing at the Senate, following complaints on same. It is unfortunate if government officials pretend that all is well in the humanitarian field, in the North-East. Apart from on-going investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), into allegations of massive diversion of humanitarian assistance meant for IDPs, at different times, only the ungodly and unconscionable would deny the existence of disaster profiteers in the field. There has been no conclusion on the investigation as at time of writing this report. In the Senate, paucity of funds appears to have stalled progress in the probe. As Nigerians, especially the IDPs who should have directly benefitted from the funds which have allegedly been diverted and misapplied await outcome of the investigation, answers to the plethora of allegations are being also awaited. Many of the affected have resorted to denying security warnings by returning to their ancestral homes. It is hoped therefore that their plights are not aggravated due to the pursuit of pecuniary interests.

4 6 ORDERPAPERTODAY December 15, 2016 December 15, 2016 ORDERPAPERTODAY 7 Throwback Throwback I Exposed Salisu Buhari s Toronto Certificate Scam Chidi Duru Nze Chidi Okechukwu Duru was a two-term member of the House of Representatives. Lawyer, businessman and scion of a wealthy father, Chidi represented Aguata Federal Constituency of Anambra State at a very turbulent period of politicking in the National Assembly. He however held his own, made a mark and moved back to the private sector after exiting the Green Chamber in Between he served along the likes of Farouk Lawan; Ita Enang who is now Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate); Gabriel Suswam who became two-time Governor of Benue State; Mohammed Kumaila; Adams Jagaba (who is still a member of the House after a 4-year interregnum); Abubakar Bawa Bwari (current Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development); Patricia Etteh (who was forced to resign as Speaker in the 5th Assembly); and Nicholas Ukachukwu (the Igbo man who represented Bwari/Abuja Municipal Council of Abuja). In the subsequent 5th Assembly, Chidi Duru was sworn into office in 2004 after a protracted legal battle at the Elections Petition and Appeal Tribunal. He joined others like Aminu Tambuwal (who later became Speaker and is currently the Governor of Sokoto State); Bala Ngilari (who later became Deputy Governor and then Governor of Adamawa State); Suleiman Nazif (currently a Senator); Mohammed Ndume (current Leader of the Senate); Mercy Almona-Isei; Pius Odubu (immediate past deputy governor of Edo State); Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (current Governor of Enugu State); Hadi Sirika (current Minister of Aviation); Femi Gbajabiamila (current Leader of the House); and Usman Nafada (former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives and serving senator). Being among such leading lights in the legislature and in the limelight of national politics was for Chidi an unforgettable experience that taught him lots of lessons that are still useful in his current endeavours. There were quite a number of memories and there was no dull moment, he told ORDERPAPERTODAY in an interview. He continued: The experience gave one the platform and opportunity to come in contact with people from different backgrounds and parts of the country with varied experiences and knowledge. You cannot discount the benefits of that collegiate experience the National Assembly offers. This allowed for robust discussions and debate within the Chambers of the House of Representatives. What was very striking and enriching for me personally was that a number of those that were elected into the House were people who on their own strength stood for and won elections and could think independently. Mr. Duru went down memory lane to speak of the rise and fall of the first Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 4th Republic, Salisu Buhari. He detailed how the group to which he belonged galvanized resources and support to see to Buhari s exit. In fact, Chidi Duru took credit for the expose on the then Speaker which led to his eventual fall from grace to grass. Hear him: At that time, my group sat and decided that for us to be able to have the House of Representatives that we desired we must be able to have the kind of Speaker that reflected the tendencies, backgrounds, experience and maturity of the people that are in the National Assembly. And it was easy for us to see that among the candidates running for Speaker, one of them was not qualified. And I am talking of Buhari who later emerged as Speaker of the House. We did find out that he was not qualified and competent and that he lacked the background to lead the House and we plotted his removal. And we were happy that in spite of the preference of the ruling party and then President (Olusegun) Obasanjo we exposed his incompetence and deficiencies which led him to honourably resign for Hon. Umar Ghali Na Abba to emerge as Speaker. In the campaign build-up, we had Salisu Buhari; Farouk Lawan and Sadik Yar Adua from Katsina State. When we evaluated, our choice veered between Sadik and Farouk in terms of preference. We saw the weakness of Buhari which was brought to the attention of the PDP (led by late Solomon Lar) and the government at that time. The certificate he said he had from Toronto, Canada was not issued by the institution he claimed. And I must say that the investigation was done at my instance; we found out that he did not go through that school. Through my brother in the US, we engaged a reputable law firm which contacted the University of Legislative Appointments of Chidi Duru ( ) Deputy Chairman - House Committee on Aviation 1999-January 2000 Chairman - House Committee on Privatization ( ) Chairman - House Committee on Housing (February-June 2003) Ad Hoc Chairman - House Committee on Pension reform Chairman- House Committee on Public Petitions May Toronto and we received feedback that there was no graduate of the school by any name called Salisu Buhari. To double check, we went back to say do a search with an interchange of the name- Buhari Salisu- because it is not uncommon for that to happen. The school again responded that there was neither Salisu Buhari nor Buhari Salisu. They made all these correspondences through my brother in the US. When reminded that it was a Community Newspaper in Kano that first broke the story of Buhari s Toronto scandal, Duru agreed but disclosed that it was his group that availed the publication the evidence as sourced from Canada. Yes we gave the documents to the community newspaper and the News magazine which did a front page expose Buhari: the face of a liarand that drew public attention and it became impossible for our party to continue to condone him, he stressed. As someone who played such crusading role in the fall of Salisu Buhari, what is his relationship with the former Speaker? Duru responded thus: We have always been (in contact) and I want to believe that we remain friends. He was very charismatic, determined and hardworking and had a charming personality. But it was not his time because of the background that he had. He was counselled ahead not to present himself but he refused. As for other members of Chidi Duru the 4th and 5th Assemblies with whom he served, Duru says he has been in touch with some of them especially those who reside in Lagos and Abuja and who have had cause to be brought together at events. And we continue to debate as former legislators about we can help society be a better place, he adds. How has life been since he left the National Assembly? He replies that it s been very exciting and engaging. Since I exited the House of Representatives, I have not set foot in the precincts of the National Assembly. I have not consulted nor do I intend to consult for any committee of the House but that is not to say that from the background I have not offered advice when I consider it necessary. Over time, we have had some of our successors in the National Assembly seek us out to engage on how they can become better legislators and how some of the Bills that did not see the light of the day before we left can be given life and passed. Of particular note is the Anti-Trust Bill that I sponsored which did not get signed into law. I have made inputs into continuation processes for that Bill and I am hoping that it will see the light of day. I first introduced that Bill in 2004 through a USAID sponsorship and a law firm in Lagos which assisted in bringing all the resources together; we got it passed in the House of Reps and the Senate but it was not assented to by the President. And I think it is a very critical legislation. Chidi Duru also spoke about his experience of politics with specific reference to the factor of godfatherism and leadership succession generally. His take is that the country must institute a clean and fair electoral system which respects and upholds the wishes of the people above and beyond every other consideration. Hear him: What is important is that we continue to push for an electoral system that reflects the will of the majority of the people- whether it is by way of a godfather or a communal effort or by somebody coming on his own strengthas long as the people are allowed to elect their choices through a free and fair election; that would be my advocacy. To buttress his point, the former Member of Parliament narrated how personal interest prevailed over the collective will of the people with respect to elections into Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the country. In 2000/2001 the then President through some subterfuge made it impossible for state electoral bodies to conduct elections into chairmanship and councillorship positions across the country on the excuse that it was impossible to provide an updated voters register. And the reason was very simple: the President felt that if council polls were held at that time it would be impossible for him to win in Ogun State where the AD (Alliance for Democracy) was very strong. So he reached some understanding with AD governors and APP (All Peoples Party) which was pushed down the throat of PDP governors and the Council of State meeting held and passed a resolution that because it was impossible to provide an updated voters register council elections could not hold and that governors of the respective states be allowed to appoint caretaker committees. That was and still a present danger to our democracy in Nigeria which subverted the Constitution of the country. And that began the extension of the tentacles of a strong man in the politics of Nigeria at the detriment of institutions. And it was convenient for governors too as it gave them powers to appoint all manners of characters into councils and that gave them direct control of federal allocations for that arm of government. And that for me began the issue of subversion of the will of the people in Nigeria. And that showed down the line it could be possible to promote a third term agenda for President Obasanjo because if he could truncate the will of the people at that level then he could as well amend the constitution to secure a third term in office. We are still facing the consequences of thatgovernors became overbearing; godfathers with a link to the centre exploited it to their advantage; and the president not knowing that there is a divide between him governing the country and the party governing the party structure. And this has had a direct impact on leadership recruitment in the country. He then went on to narrate how that development affected his political career: This did affect me of course because it was the unwritten rule that people who were not beholden to their governors or party godfathers should not be allowed to emerge as candidates of the party and must not be allowed to come back to the National Assembly. In my case I was fortunate; the primary was held 10 times and 9 times it was cancelled. The last one was held under the chairmanship of a man I consider to be reputable by what I had read in the media- who came to Anambra State, Salisu Buhari destroyed whatever reputation he had; sat in Enugu and wrote the results of the primaries which took place in Anambra State. We had to come to Abuja with video evidence of voting by aged and young for me. For some righteous moment, the PDP decided I was the candidate of the party and sent my name to INEC to represent Aguata federal constituency. Even after the election, INEC was again used to declare a different person as candidate which put me through the Tribunal and Appeal Court for some 8 months before I triumphed. So how has life in the private sector been for Chidi Duru? He said his business activities have revolved around Grand Towers Ltd, a holding company that we use to engage in every opportunity that we find- electronic payment systems, real estate, realty, pension. We founded and promoted First Guaranty Pension which became one of the thriving PFAs in Nigeria. But the Pension company has taken him through hell and back with dirty ownership battles and attempts to push him out in the last five years or so. He was even labelled a criminal and prosecuted on what later became trumped-up charges that were later withdrawn and thrown out by the Court. He tells the story: The events of the last few months took root in As the promoter/founder of First Guarantee Pensions, I had the singular honour of receiving a license as a PFA. (Unlike other PFAs promoted by banks, and other big corporate entities) I invited a number of subscribers and shareholders. The business paid its first dividends in Then the regulator did what it called Special Target Report in which a number of allegations were thrown up. We went to court to challenge it and on August 11, 2011 the court gave a judgement asking the regulator to suspend the implementation of the report. He said the regulator flouted the ruling; took over the company and appointed an Interim Management Committee which is still in existence against the clear instructions of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the country at the time (Mohammed Adoke) who wrote two different letters asking for the order of the court to be obeyed. According to him, a final judgement was delivered on July 18, 2012 which upbraided the regulator for being reckless, lawless and verging on impunity in the exercise of its regulatory function. The regulator still declined to obey and resorted to using law enforcement agencies to criminalize what had been adjudicated upon by the law courts. I was run through ICPC, Police and EFCC. ICPC declined to get involved because it was not part of the mandate. I was declared wanted and criminal charges were filed against me in an Abuja court. Based on our stout defence backed up with all previous court papers, the court quashed the charges against me. They now resorted to a media campaign against me and got the EFCC to step in against the recommendations of two previous panels in the Commission which had investigated the matter and found nothing against me. Duru then narrated how the EFCC under Ibrahim Lamorde was influenced to file criminal charges against him in a Lagos court and not in the Abuja jurisdiction where I live. The aim was to inflict maximum discomfort and also to forum-shop since the courts in Abuja were sufficiently aware of the matter. (It was a friend in Lagos who called his attention to the suit as he was never served to file a defence). He thereafter petitioned the AGF who had previously written five letters to the IG of Police and three letters to EFCC dating back to 2012 and 2013, advising against any further action on the matter. I had to petition the current AGF and Mr. President. The AGF then wrote the EFCC and asked for the file. That intervention, he concluded, led to the current relief whereby the criminal charges were withdrawn by the EFCC and consequently quashed by the court on November 11, Going through such testy times could leave bitter taste in the mouth of even the most stoic fellow. But not with Duru. Hear him: In all of these, am I bitter? No. Do I hold any grudge against anyone? No. I am glad that I have not deviated from the known path of honour, integrity and nobility. There was an admonition which my dad gave to me when he was alive; that my grandfather who was his father told him that despite all his wealth which he would inherit, the major thing for him was his name and he hoped that my father would pass on this good name to his children. When my father was alive, he reminded me of that and also told me that regardless of his wealth which I would inherit what he would pass on to me was his good name. And for me, that baton that was passed unto me would not stop in my own line; I should be able to pass on this good name to my children. I don t regret it. My life is never one of regret; I don t regret anything at all; I pick my successes and failures as part of the experiences necessary for my maturity. The former lawmaker in spite of all has been involved in helping society through his Foundation which intervenes for off-targeted orphanages, widows, indigent students who are otherwise brilliant and intelligent but cannot pay their school fees. And I am happy to note that through that effort we have about 28 persons who have graduated from tertiary institutions and quite a huge number that are going through primary and secondary schools. Is Nze Duru thinking of returning to politics? He would neither say yes or no. Let me just say I like engaging in the public space; I keep an open mind, he says, adding briskly: My experience in the last five years reinforces my belief that we need to keep engaging in the public space.

5 8 ORDERPAPERTODAY December 15, 2016 December 15, 2016 ORDERPAPERTODAY 9 Cover Cover Buhari The Lingering Budget Controversy Recurring controversy over the national budget has become a hallmark of the Muhammadu Buhari administration. Unfortunately, there seems to be no signs of a let-off in the brewing face-off between the Executive and the National Assembly on the nagging issue. Rather, matters appear to be escalating thereby raising fears that the 2017 budget may not offer much solace to the suffering economy just like the case in And if this eventually happens, the administration would have lost two critical budget circles needed to positively stamp its mark on the economy and fulfil its many campaign promises. The Beginning... The 2016 budget was the first conceived and presented to the National Assembly for passage by President Buhari who assumed office in the middle Saraki of implementation of the 2015 fiscal year contrived by his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan. There was expectedly, much hope placed on it. But to the disappointment of many, the process took off on a very shaky note even though the delay in the appointment of ministers had laid the foundation for such. (Recall that ministers were not sworn into office until November 2015, thereby leaving much of the budget preparation to bureaucrats in the respective Ministries, Departments and Agencies under the coordination of the Budget Office of the Federation.) In spite of that, the budget that was presented by Buhari before a joint session of the National Assembly on December 22, 2015, had elicited much hope as it was christened the Budget of Change. The federal legislature shut its doors after the ceremony and proceeded for recess for the Christmas and New Year break, postponing work on the document to January Lost and Found Budget... The nation was treated to a nollywood soap opera script when federal lawmakers resumed from their recess to announce that the 2017 budget submitted a fortnight before was missing. Since nothing of such had ever been heard of in the annals of the country s history not a few dismissed the story as a joke in January. But it was not after all as two versions of the documents were bandied about in both chambers of the National Assembly even though the House of Representatives insisted that it was in possession of what was submitted in December. It was when the Senate officially put the blame of the missing budget episode on the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (senate), Sen. Ita Enang, that the nation realized that some high-level political games were being played with the federal budget. And as things turned out, the game was a ping pong ding dong affair of buck-passing Dogara between both arms of government. Denials and Counterclaims... When the missing budget eventually ran through its embarrassing course, another chapter of the ugly saga entered as many of the agencies which appeared before respective committees of the National Assembly to defend their estimates often times were in possession of details that were at variance with what the committees had. Recall that the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole at a time flatly denied the estimates in the possession of the Committee on Health in the Senate. These developments gave rise to a lot of suspicions on the genuineness of the entire document. It took a lot of efforts between the executive and legislative arms of the federal government to have some of the many discrepancies resolved. But when the budget was eventually passed by both houses of the National Assembly on March 23, 2016, President Buhari insisted on being furnished with the details before he would sign the document. The national assembly had to make these available before President Buhari eventually signed the budget about a month later. Meanwhile, in the face of the whole confusion, the suspended former chairman of the House committee on appropriations, Abdulmumuni Jibrin was dramatically in the forefront of defending the legislature against charges from the executive that the legislature was deliberately stalling passage of the budget. Enter the Padding Controversy... By this time however, the phrase budget padding lexicon had been forcefully stamped into the budgetary process with officials of both arms of government trading blames and passing the buck. President Buhari quickly exonerated himself, saying he was hearing of the phrase for the first time. He however reacted by redeploying some officials in the Budget Office as a form of punishment. Ripples of padding were also ripping through the National Assembly as alleged dirty details of how Jibrin manipulated the process to his advantage emerged. That was eventually led to his sack as chairman of one of the most powerful and juicy standing committees of the House. And of course that opened a Pandora box of alleged budget fraud and malfeasance which has continued to reverberate in the polity till date. Determined not to go down alone, an embattled Jibrin attempted to pull the roof down; he specifically targeted four principal officers including Speaker Yakubu Dogara of padding the 2016 budget to the tune of several billions of naira in personal projects. Others fingered by Jibrin include Deputy Speaker Yussuff Lasun, Minority Leader Leo Ogor and Chief Whip Alhassan Doguwa. All four men have vehemently denied the charges. The presidency on Obasanjo its part however insisted that what the President signed into law as 2016 budget was not padded. A defiant Jibrin however continued the fight, petitioning the presidency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-corruption agencies. He has continually carried on the crusade on social media among other platforms. The Obasanjo Salvo... But either way, the padding allegation later posed a lot of challenges to the implementation of the budget. The issue of constituency projects formed a notable node in this fresh line of sour grapes between both arms of government. And this has attracted interventions from former president Olusegun Obasanjo who accused the National Assembly of corruption and budget fraud. Relying apparently on Mr. Jibrin s expose, the former Head of State who incidentally cannot exonerate himself from issues of corruption in the federal legislature, took the law-making institution to the cleaners, saying the national assembly is a den of armed robbers. He got a heavy-handed response from the House of Representatives which swiftly described him as the grandfather of corruption in Nigeria who was cheaply procured by a renegade member to discredit the hallowed chamber. Constituency Projects Tango... But signals that the budget may face such challenges was first dropped by Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, who declared that the Federal Government cannot fully implement the N6.06 trillion budget as passed by the National Assembly. Lawal told a joint Senate committee on Appropriations, Finance and Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions that the revenues of the government had dropped by between 50 to 60 percent, far from the initial projections. We cannot guarantee the implementation of constituency projects in the 2016 budget, the SGF said, adding: As a government, constituency projects are championed by members of the National Assembly. Like the legislature, members of the executive are politicians Jibrin who canvassed for votes. Lawmakers are aware that oil barrels had dwindled to about 800,000 barrels per day. This has led to the inability of government to finance the budget. It is the duty of government to prepare the minds of Nigerians ahead that there will be challenges in implementing the budget. Government, based its principle on zero budgeting this year, funds will be released to finance key projects in line with the implementation plans of the government. Some Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) might find it impossible to implement projects appropriated in their budgets. We have to re-prioritize. Save for pockets of statistics on fund releases for capital projects, there has not been much of official disclosures on the level of implementation of the 2016 budget Budget and the MTEF Challenge... It is amidst this scenario that plans for the 2017 budget started. In October, President submitted the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) to the National Assembly preparatory to the submission of the 2017 budget. The documents have for the last couple of weeks suffered some serious setback as the Senate especially tore them to shreds, describing the MTEF as empty. There were worse words used: Senator Dino Melaye said the document was a fraud; Sen. Stella Oduah said it did not make sense; while Sen. Solomon Olamilekan zeroed in on the economic team of the President, describing it as being in disarray. Even though the documents were eventually referred to the Committees on Appropriation, Finance and National Planning, a big war front had been opened on the 2017 budget which cannot be submitted until the MTEF/FSP is dispensed with. Dark Clouds Surround 2017 Budget... As things stand, it is not unexpected that the 2017 budget would face the challenge of passage in the parliament, more because members constituency intervention projects in the 2016 budget seemed to be the worst hit in the face-off.

6 10 ORDERPAPERTODAY December 15, 2016 December 15, 2016 ORDERPAPERTODAY 11 TheGalleryColloquium Parliament&Profile Meet Lasun, Reps Deputy Speaker Setting the Agenda for Budget Reforms The emergence of Mr. Suleiman Yussuff Lasun as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives on June 9, 2015 surprised not a few followers of the politics of leadership succession in the National Assembly. This was because he did not really appear as a known contender in the race in the beginning. Even as a returning member of the House, not much was known of him until fate and fortune smiled on the Osun-born lawmaker on that memorable day when he got elected as the number two member of the House by his colleagues. Lasun s political rise has its roots almost entirely in Osun State. He was once appointed by Governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as Chairman of the state s Capital Territory Development Authority, a body charged with the mandate to ensure speedy development of the capital town of Oshogbo. His first attempt to represent his people in Abuja however, was in 2007 but he lost the bid. By 2011, he ran for and won a seat into the House of Representatives to represent Osogbo/Olorunda/ Irepodun/Orolu Federal Constituency of Osun State on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), a party that later merged with some other parties to form the current All Progressives Congress (APC). In that assembly, he was a member of the special adhoc committee on the review of the constitution; and appointed vice chairman of the committee on Water Resources. He contested again and retained the same federal constituency seat in the 2015 general elections on the grace of the same political family. Following high-wire politicking by the two prominent camps jostling for the leadership of the House, Lasun who was later adopted as the running mate to incumbent Speaker, Yakubu Dogara. He contested against Mohammed Mongono (APC, Borno) of the Femi Gbajabiamila camp and eventually polled a majority vote of 203 to emerge Deputy Speaker. As his current position demands, Lasun heads the adhoc committee for the review of the constitution and also presides over consideration of reports in the House. He is also the deputy head of Nigeria s delegation to the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) conferences which hold every year. He was elected deputy speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament at the 44th session of the body in 2015, thereby becoming the first incumbent deputy speaker of the Reps to hold that position. But by far, the most prominent and tasking contribution he has recorded in the House Lasun since his emergence is the challenge of cleaning up the 2016 national budget which had become a controversial ding-dong affair between the presidency and the national assembly at the time. Born on October 4, 1960 in Ilobu, Osun, Lasun had his primary and secondary education in the state, before gaining admission into the prestigious University of Ife and University of Ibadan to study Mechanical Engineering at the level of First degree and Masters respectively. He has been honoured him with traditional titles including: the Ikolaba of Ilobu land; the Agbaakin of Ilare and the Basorun of Obaagun all in Osun State. Deputy Speaker Lasun is a recognised grassroots politician in Osun State and has through his constituency development intervention projects empowered a notable number of his constituents. There are whispers about the Osun gubernatorial contest heard around him these days. But that will be confirmed in no distant time from now. By Anthony Ubani Against the disturbing backdrop of declining confidence in the legislature and mounting citizens frustration leading to fast depleting trust in the National Assembly, the first Gallery Colloquium was organized by OrderPaper.ng to focus on how to reform the budgetary process. The event was carefully conceived and calibrated to convene legislators, executive branch officials and stakeholders in the Nigerian project in a somber environment where they could begin an informed conversation on how best to reposition the legislature, enhance executive/legislative relations and reform the budgetary process in Nigeria. First of its kind in Nigeria, the Gallery Colloquium was an unqualified success in style, substance and delivery. Fresh and innovation ideas on how to transform the National Assembly into a peoples legislature; improve executive/legislative relations and reform the budgetary process in Nigeria were harvested from the Colloquium. In the main, the Colloquium delivered substance on all four of its principal objectives. First, the Gallery Colloquium succeeded in setting the appropriate agenda and tone for the commencement of a productive and rancor free debate on the budget padding saga and the performance of the National Assembly. Second, it cultivated germane recommendations and ideas for legislative and executive branch leaders to harness as building blocks for result oriented relations in their service to the Nigerian people. Third, it highlighted practical steps that the National Assembly can begin to take immediately to build its capacity and reposition itself as a credible and effective people oriented institution of legislative governance. Fourth and finally, the Gallery Colloquium communicated concrete proposals on how to reform the budgetary process with a view to transforming Appropriation Acts into veritable tools for the accelerated economic development of Nigeria. It is a further testament to the solemnity of the issues considered at the Gallery Colloquium that consequential leaders from the legislative, executive, media, civil society, development partners, the diplomatic corps, and private sector were personally in attendance to enrich the discourse. They include: the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and a host of his colleagues, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu and a sizeable number of his colleagues, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives and now Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate),Ita Enang, immediate past Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, the Honorable Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, who was represented by the Director of Economic Growth in the Ministry, Kayode Obasa, and Fiscal Governance Expert and Lead Director of Centre for Social Justice (CENSOJ), Eze Onyekpere. Members of the panel session were high-end individuals of enviable accomplishments in their various fields of endeavours. They are Senator John Enoh, Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance and a former Chairman of the Appropriation Committee of the House of Representatives; Dapo Olorunyomi, consummate and celebrated media guru who is currently Managing Director/Editorin-Chief of Premium Times, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts and a respected ranking member; and Sen. Chris Anyanwu, member of the 6th and 7th Senate and media practitioner of repute. Others are Senator Shehu Sani, Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign and Domestic Debt, and renowned civil rights activist; Chief Victor Muruako, Acting Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, and accomplished lawyer and good governance advocate; Hon. Lawal Garba, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Constituency Projects, and consummate lawyer; and Mr. Imoni Amarere, MD of DaarNews Services and a tested broadcast journalist of high repute. Whilst the session was moderated by yours sincerely, a team of rapporteurs led by Chido Onumah, Coordinator of Africa Centre for Media and Information Literacy, ensured that a carefully and expertly crafted communique was ready for scrutiny and subsequent adoption by participants at the Colloquium. The hope and expectation now is first, for the leadership of NASS, particularly and more importantly, to take the communiqué arising from the Gallery Colloquium, study it and patriotically proceed to implement as many of the brilliant resolutions and recommendations contained therein as is feasible. The onus is equally on the Executive branch of Government to take urgent steps towards implementing areas that verge on its jurisdiction as far as the budgetary process is concerned. And finally, for citizens to rise up from their docile state of agony and begin to actively organize and participate in the governance of their country by holding their elected leaders, at all levels, to account. The message is that a people-oriented, development focused and responsive National Assembly that will facilitate the implementation of Government policies by an equally responsive and responsible Executive is possible. Indeed A New Nigeria is Possible. Anthony Ubani is the Convener of Future Capital Seminars (FCS) and Chief Executive Officer of Africa Leadership Advantage (AFRILEAD)

7 12 ORDERPAPERTODAY December 15, 2016 December 15, 2016 ORDERPAPERTODAY 13 Sights of the Gallery Colloquium On September 26, 2016 OrderPaper.ng hosted the maiden episode of its annual Gallery Colloquium. The epochal event which attracted attendance and participation from a broad spectrum of society, focused on budgetary reforms for accelerated national development. The programme also served as the official public presentation of OrderPaper.ng as performed by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, CFR. The list of high profile guests at the Colloquium included Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara; Governor of Sokoto State, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, CFR; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, represented by Mr. Kayode Obasa, Director of Economic Growth in the Ministry; Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang; current and former Senators and Members of the House of Representatives, Media Chiefs, Chief Executives and top officials of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), representatives of the Diplomatic Community and Development Agencies; among other top dignitaries. Here are some pictures of the event as captured by NASCARD & Michael Adeeyo L-R: Sen. John Enoh, Anthony Ubani and Dapo Olorunyomi of Premium Times L-R: Sen. Shehu Sani, Hon. Kingsley Chinda and Hon. Lawal Garba L-R: Segun Adeniyi, Kayode Obasa, Oke Epia, Governor Aminu Tambuwal and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara L-R: Sen. Sani, Governor Tambuwal, Speaker Dogara, Sen. Ekweremadu and Epia L-R: Hon. Eddie Mbadiwe, Governor Tambuwal and Epia L-R: Sen. Ekweremadu, Epia and Dogara L-R: Sen. Dino Melaye, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha and Governor Tambuwal L-R: Speaker Dogara and Epia Hon. Garba Sen. Ita Enang Eze Onyekpere Kayode Obasa Sen. Ekweremadu Hon. Mustapha Dawaki Chido Onumah Hon. Tajudeen Yusuf Imoni Amarere Sen. Chris Anyanwu (left) and Victor Muruako Dr. Paddy Njoku (left) and Governor Tambuwal Sen. Joshua Dariye, Epia and Sen. Uche Ekwunife L-R: Hon. Mohammed Wudil, Chuks Ohuegbe and Hon. Timothy Golu L-R: Hon. C.I.D. Maduabum, Hon. Abdulsamad Dasuki and others Sen. Enoh, Hon. Ihedioha, Dan Akpovwa and Governor Tambuwal Cross section of participants Cross section of participants Cross section of participants

8 14 ORDERPAPERTODAY December 15, 2016 December 15, 2016 ORDERPAPERTODAY 15 TheGalleryColloquium TheGalleryColloquium By Yakubu Dogara Issues concerning the Budget and Budget process in Nigeria have been in the front-burner of public discourse for some time now. It is therefore a welcome opportunity for stakeholders to discuss matters concerning the budget and it is in this regard that I wish to appreciate Orderpaper.ng, the conveners of this event tagged Gallery Colloquium with the theme: Budget as a tool for accelerated Economic Development in Nigeria for organizing this event. The theme of the colloquium is most apt and topical. As is clearly evident, the Legislature is unquestionably at the heart of the budget process, not only in Nigeria but in all countries practicing Presidential Democracy. The legal framework for Budgetary process in Nigeria would be found in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) in Sections 4, 59, 80-82, and others. Some laws also have bearing on the matter, namely: Finance (Control and Management) Act, CAP F26, LFN 2004 and the Fiscal Responsibility Act, Administrative Manuals and documents have also some bearing on budget matters. These include, the Annual Budget Call Circular and Federal Government Financial Regulations. Judicial pronouncements is also a source of budget information and authority. For example, it was the Supreme Court decision in Attorney- General of Bendel State v. Attorney- General of the Federation that clarified the procedure for enactment of money bills, including the role and extent of the powers of the Joint Finance Committee of the National Assembly in the budgeting process. The Procurement Act, 2007 has an impact especially with respect to actual budget implementation. While the Auditor General of the Federation and the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly play a major role in post budget scrutiny and audit. The Role of the Budget in Accelerated Economic Development Mr. President is enjoined to provide an estimate of the revenues and expenditure of the federation which he prepares and lays before the National Assembly at any time in each financial year (S.81(1), CFRN). The Budget, in summary, is a compendium of Who gets what, when and how? It involves the allocation and distribution of available resources among competing sectors and demands. The Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy contained in Chapter 2 of the Constitution provides the philosophical basis that defines our budgeting process. It says in Section 16(2) that The State shall direct its policy towards ensuring: 16(2) (a). The promotion of a planned and balanced economic development and 16(2) (b) That the material resources of the nation are harnessed and distributed as best as possible to serve the common good. The annual budget is thus, the vehicle provided by law for the acquisition, allocation and distribution of resources for socio-economic development of the nation. The government makes critical 14 Steps to Reform Nigeria s Budgetary Process decisions on developmental objectives and priorities of the nation, with respect to poverty reduction, increased employment opportunities, relevant infrastructural development, like power supply, Mining and Solid Mineral development; Transportation Services such as road construction, provision of Rail services, Seaport and Airport. It provides for social and economic development services such as education, health, Food security, housing, security of lives and property, human capital development and social services. It ensures the economic growth and development of the nation through deliberate micro and macro economic policies embedded therein. A Budget should reflect not just national priorities but also the priorities of the ruling party. As our democracy matures, elections would be based on contrasting visions of development which is submitted to the electorate to decide. Therefore, when a political party comes to power, it would be ready to govern from day one, based on the programmes and vision placed before the electorate. Of course, the new government must conduct a proper audit of the situation of things in various sectors to understand the system and recalibrate its policies, Dogara where necessary. The budget is one of the major means of achieving these objectives. The Role of the Legislature in the Budgeting Process Recent events have brought to the fore the extent of the powers of the National Assembly with respect to the Budgeting process. Indeed many commentators, including Lawyers, have contended that the power of the National Assembly (NASS) is restricted to examining the Budget and making corrections where necessary. Some contend that the Appropriation power enables the National Assembly to reduce but not to increase expenditure and that it lacks power to introduce new items into the Budget. However, a close examination of the Constitution shows otherwise. Section 4 grants general law making powers to the National Assembly; Section 80, particularly 80(2); 80(3) and 80(4) are unambiguous. Funds cannot be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund of the Federation or other Public Funds of the Federation without legislative approval and or authorization. The Constitution requires that all legitimate federal expenditure must be in the MANNER prescribed by the National Assembly not by the Executive. It is our firm view that the word manner used in S.80(4) connotes some form of discretion on the part of the National Assembly. Furthermore, S81(1) gives Mr. President authority to cause to be prepared and laid before each House of the National Assembly at any time in each financial year estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the Federation for the next following financial year. The President submits mere estimates and not a budget as such because the Budget itself is a law which is an Act of the National Assembly and not that of the Executive. Section 81(2) provides that the estimates should be in heads of expenditure and included in an Appropriation Bill. Section 81 did not specifically say how the Appropriation Bill should be passed. It needs not say so since S.80 and S.4 had made elaborate provisions already. In any case, S.59 is specifically devoted to money bills and gives the National Assembly and not Mr. President final authority over passage of the bill into law. The Constitution did not envisage that the National Assembly shall be a rubber stamp on budgetary matters. Those who contend that the National Assembly cannot increase the budget but can only reduce it are trying to import the British parliamentary law into a presidential system of government. In the British parliamentary system, the Crown has prerogative over money supply and the legislature is specifically prohibited from increasing the budget. It should be noted that the critical difference is that Parliament under a parliamentary system includes all the Ministers unlike the presidential system where the Ministers are not part of the National Assembly. It is therefore the decision of the Executive that carries the day in Parliament as the Ministers are also leaders of Parliament. This position is therefore justified on the basis of separation of powers which is inherent in a Presidential democracy as practiced in Nigeria. In addition, if the Constitution intended that the National Assembly should not have power to increase a budget item it should have said so. Nigeria s budgeting system is closer to the model practiced in the United States of America, where Congress has authority to alter, increase, reduce or indeed introduce new budget items. Article 1, Section 9 of the United States Constitution provides that: No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of Appropriations made by law. This provision is similar to Section 80 of the Nigerian Constitution. The principles disclosed are that First, All monies are paid into the USA Treasury and in the case of Nigeria, all Funds are paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund or other Public Funds of the Federation. Secondly, No money can be withdrawn from the Treasury of the United States of America except through Appropriation. In Nigeria, any withdrawal from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or other Public Funds of the Federation can only be made in pursuance of authorization of the National Assembly. The framers of the US Constitution, mindful of taxation without representation suffered by colonists under the British crown, took care to specify in the Constitution that the ultimate power to tax and spend resides in the hands of the legislative branch - which is closer to the people - not the executive branch. The power of the purse is the most important power of Congress. James Madison in the Federalist Papers called it the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people. It checks the power of the President and gives Congress vast influence over American society, because federal spending reaches into the life of every citizen. Under congressional direction, the government funds a nearly endless list of programs and activities. ( Congress and Power of the Purse by Lee Hamilton, Director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University). This is also the position in Nigeria even though Mr. President initiates a money bill in Nigeria. Since 1921, the US President also initiates a money bill. This was achieved with The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 which requires the President to submit the budget to Congress for each fiscal year which is the 12-month period beginning on October 1 and ending on September 30 of the next calendar year. The current federal budget law in the USA (31 U.S.C. 1105(a)) requires that the US President submit the budget between the first Monday in January and the first Monday in February. National Assembly Oversight of the Budgeting Process and Non Implementation of Approved Budgets When Appropriation Bill is signed into law by Mr. President it becomes an Act of the National Assembly. The Executive is enjoined to execute all laws made by the National Assembly. The Appropriation Act is the major instrument for delivery of services to the nation. It is akin to a social contract between the people and its government. If for any reason, such as revenue shortfall, it becomes impracticable to execute aspects of the Appropriation Act, the Appropriation Act has provided a mechanism for a resolution through consultations. A situation where the Executive branch picks and chooses which aspects of the Act to execute without consultation with the Legislature is untidy and undermines the foundation of the constitutional order. Appreciable Budget implementation will act as stimulus and help to reflate the economy. The Legislature, consequently should rise up and conduct proper oversight on the activities of the Executive with respect to the budget to ensure that projects and programmes contained in the Budget to improve the economy, fight poverty, provide infrastructure, education, health services and enhance socio economic development of the nation is carried out. I have consequently, recently directed relevant Committees of the House to conduct oversight of MDAs on the level of implementation of the 2016 Budget. The Constitution assigns the role of acting as a check on the Executive by monitoring and supervision of projects and using the power of investigation provided in S.88 and 89 of the Constitution, to the National Assembly. Budget Reform A review of how annual budgets or Appropriation Bills have been prepared and executed in Nigeria since 1999 will reveal an unsatisfactory state of affairs. There is therefore an urgent need for Budget Reform in Nigeria. It is axiomatic to note that any realistic, credible and lasting Budget Reform process will involve: i. A review of the Legal Framework to ensure that the Annual Budget is submitted on time. This will lead to amendment of S.81(1) CFRN, which gives the President authority to present the estimates of revenue and expenditure at any time within a financial year; ii. The imperative necessity to ensure that the Budget is passed on time, before the commencement of the next financial year. This may, if necessary, require that a budget time frame be included in the Constitution to bind both The Executive and Legislature; iii. A clear development plan with broad national consensus should be put in place that deals with short, medium and long term plans of the nation; iv. We must ensure that yearly budgets follow the development plans as much as possible, except emergencies arise. MTEF should be detailed enough to contain major projects contemplated in a three year period with approximate costings; v. Projects that are admitted to the National Budget are not properly thought through and based on actual need with relevant spread to reflect federal character of Nigeria. This entails that project selection process must be more transparent, need based and technically driven with justification. Discretionary and whimsical selection of projects must be downplayed; vi. That the Technical capacity of both the bureaucracy and Members of both the Executive and legislative branch on budget matters is deliberately beefed up. We must as a legislature ensure during this session that the National Assembly Budget and Research Office, Bill (NABRO) is finally passed and signed into Law, to provide timely and accurate financial and economic information to the Legislature; vii. There should be extensive stakeholder consultation at the executive level during preparation of the Budget; viii. There must be a robust Pre-budget interface between the Executive and Legislature, to reduce areas of friction during the Appropriation process. Indeed the National Assembly should be consulted on issues of project selection. In any case, even though there is both constitutional and practical need and imperative for the National Assembly to work in a cooperative manner with the Executive on Budgeting matters, nevertheless, it cannot give up its constitutionally assigned responsibilities in the budget process in the guise of seeking cooperation with the Executive branch. The watchword is cooperation not abdication; ix. Clear Budgetary objectives and government targets to be achieved in the Budget should be clearly stated. Government must set out clear objectives and targets it intends to achieve during the budget year, which should be widely disseminated to all stakeholders and the Nigerian people; x. Reform of the process of the passage of the Appropriation Act in the National Assembly that encourages more openness and transparency especially at the Committee levels. The plenary of both Houses should be more involved in the Schedule to the Appropriation Act; xi. Subjecting Budget Defence exercise to stakeholder involvement in a form of public hearing. Subjecting the annual budget to public scrutiny at National Assembly will give stakeholders opportunity to make their inputs and challenge incorrect assumptions in the Budget. This Dogara process will involve the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and other professional bodies. The National Assembly will benefit from the research skills of various CSOs and the technical expertise of professional bodies at the enactment stage of the Appropriation Bill. I am aware that many CSOs scrutinize the Budget yearly and usually point out areas of duplications and wastages. We need to institutionalize this mechanism; xii. Amendment of Section 82 of the Constitution to reduce the time the previous year s budget will continue to run in the event that the Appropriation Act is not passed at the beginning of the Financial year from 6 months to 3 months as this distorts the Budget process; xiii. A critical look should be taken at the operation of Financial Year as defined in S. 318 of the Constitution. A situation where an approved budget is not allowed to operate for 12 months is constitutionally unacceptable. This is the main reason for failure of budget implementation every year and the cause of abandoned projects that litter the Nigerian landscape. When projects are not completed, the nation is terribly shortchanged as the money and effort invested in it is lost. In this regard, we must institute a compulsory mechanism that rolls over major projects that is not completed in one budget year into the following year s budget. The current practice of not including on-going projects in the following year s budget is a huge waste of resources; xiv. I wish to draw attention to the existence of the problem of lack of full disclosure of the appropriate size of the National budget and the actual revenue and expenditure of the Federal Government of Nigeria. It is recommended that the Executive should look into the possibility of having just one National Budget that captures the revenues and expenditure of all MDAs, such as NNPC, CBN and other revenue generating government agencies. This should be included in the yearly Appropriation Bill. I must commend Mr. President for formally sending the Budget of these Agencies to the National Assembly this year. The budget of these agencies should not just be an attachment to the Appropriation Act but an integral part of the National Budget. House Budget Reform Committee It is as a result of all these observed anomalies and need for change and reform that I recently announced that the House will set up a Budget Reform Committee to undertake a thorough and holistic review of all issues relating to the Budget to ensure due process, more transparency, better accountability, openness and value for money. This Committee will comprise experts and professional organizations and will work in liaison with the Senate and the Executive branch. Dogara, Speaker, House of Representatives, delivered this speech at the First Gallery Colloquium on Budgetary Reforms convened by OrderPaper.ng on September 26, 2016 in Abuja

9 16 ORDERPAPERTODAY December 15, 2016 December 15, 2016 ORDERPAPERTODAY 17 Opinion Article COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE FIRST EDITION OF THE ANNUAL GALLERY COLLOQUIUM SERIES ORGANIZED BY ORDERPAPER.NG, HELD AT THE LADI KWALI HALL, SHERATON HOTEL, FCT ABUJA, ON MONDAY, 26TH OF SEPTEMBER, 2016 PREAMBLE The first edition of The Gallery Colloquium series was held on 26th September, 2016, at the Ladi Kwali Hall, Sheraton Hotel, FCT, Abuja, with the theme Budget as Tool for Accelerated Economic Development in Nigeria. The colloquium was organized with the aim of stirring up conversation on how the budgetary process in Nigeria can be reformed, especially after the budget padding drama which rocked the National Assembly. The event also served as the formal unveiling of Orderpaper.ng, Nigeria s premier multiplatform media company dedicated to reporting, tracking and archiving activities of the legislature in the digital age. Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR, Governor of Sokoto State, chairman of the occasion, praised Orderpaper. ng for the foresight in putting the colloquium together to widen the scope of discussion on the budget process. He said the country needed to reform the budgetary process to make it lucid, inclusive, implementable and accessible to all Nigerians. He identified the problem of budget in Nigeria as lack of adequate planning. He called for the amendment of the constitution to ensure that the budget is submitted to the National Assembly at least three months to the end of the preceding financial year; and for a time limit to also be allotted to the legislature within which it must work on and return the budget to the President or Governor for assent. The Distinguished Guest of Honour, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Speaker, House of Representatives, in his presentation which touched on the legal framework for budgeting said the legislature was at the heart of that process. Describing the budget as the legal framework for the distribution of the nation s resources, he noted that the constitution did not envisage that the role of the National Assembly was just to rubber stamp the budget. He called for budget reforms and a review of the legal framework to ensure that the budget is submitted on time and also passed on time. He said the House of Representatives has set up a Budget Reform Committee comprising of experts and professional bodies to review the problems associated with the budgeting process in Nigeria to ensure due process and accountability. The keynote address by Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of Budget and National Planning (MBNP) who was represented by Mr. Kayode Obasa, Director of Economic Growth (MBNP), focused on Executive-Legislative consensus in developing a workable budget. He noted that because there are no generally accepted international best practices what was required is not who has what power but how to develop a practice and convention for the budgetary process that works for the country. He noted that what should be of importance to both the Executive and the Legislature is to work in the national interest so that Nigerians can have the best possible budget. Mr. Eze Onyekpere, Lead Director at Centre for Social Justice (CENSOJ), who set the tone for discussion said consultation and collaboration between the Executive and Legislature should precede every budget process. He observed that the country puts more in the budget than its resources can accommodate; a practice he said should be discontinued. Senator Ike Ekweremadu, CFR, Deputy President of the Senate, formally presented OrderPaper.ng to the public. He described the newspaper as timely and commended the publishers for taking the bold step to address the lack of knowledge about the workings of the National Assembly. He also spoke about the need to have public hearings on the budget as the usual budget defence by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) cannot make up for incisive public participation in the process. The panel discussion on the theme, Budget as a tool for Accelerated Economic Development in Nigeria was anchored by Mr. Anthony Ubani, CEO, Africa Leadership Advantage. The panelists included: Sen. John Enoh, Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance; Sen. Shehu Sani, Chairman, Senate Committee on Domestic & Foreign Debts. Hon. Kingsley Chinda, Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts; Hon. Lawal Garba, Chairman, House Committee on Constituency Outreach; Sen. Chris Anyanwu, member of the 6th and 7th Senate; Dapo Olorunyomi, Publisher, Premium Times; Victor Muruako, Acting Chairman Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC); and Imoni Amarere, Managing Director, News Services, Daar Communications. Panelists touched on the following issues amongst others: timeliness of the budget; the role of media, civil society, development partners, and private sector in the budgetary process; inclusiveness of the budgetary process; budget monitoring and implementation; and how the Executive and Legislature can harmoniously work together to deliver on a budget that serves the interest of the majority of citizens. RESOLUTIONS After an engaging session flowing from rich presentations and discussions, the following far-reaching recommendations were made: 1. That timeliness of budget presentation is very important. That the Executive and Legislature should adopt a more participatory budgeting process by widely consulting with the citizens and other stakeholders through public hearings. 2. That a formal forum for pre-budget consultations and liaison between the Legislature and the Executive should be created in order to reduce the instances of disagreements and bickering between the two arms upon presentation of the Appropriation bill, passage and subsequent implementation. 3. That the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) should be adopted as a benchmark for determining what projects to be included in the budget which should be equitably spread across the country. 4. That provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act should be strictly adhered to in the preparation and implementation of the budget whilst a holistic look at the Act should be considered to take care of observed deficiencies. 5. That there should be effective tracking of projects and evaluation of budget expenditures to ensure transparency and accountability whilst the role of anticorruption agencies in the budgetary process clearly defined and enhanced. 6. Multi-stakeholder consultations including the private sector, development partners and the media should be undertaken for the budgetary process 7. The media and civil society should improve their watchdog roles in monitoring the budgetary process. 8. Reform of the procedures of budgeting in the National Assembly to ensure better accountability, transparency and openness. 9. Making a budget law to cover the processes and procedures of the budgetary exercise with strengthening legislative oversight being a key focus. 10. That the National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO) should be established without further delay 11. The colloquium commended OrderPaper.ng for convening the conversation at such auspicious time in the country s history and urged all stakeholders to continue to support the initiative 12. The colloquium recommended continual engagement of relevant stakeholders and to report on gains made with respect to the implementation of resolutions above. CONCLUSION The budget remains a critical tool for social and economic engineering of the country; It is therefore important to get it right and make it inclusive to ensure transparency and accountability; The budget is not the property of the Executive or the Legislature; therefore, there is need for active multistakeholder involvement in the budget process. Goodwill remarks were made by Rt. Honourable Emeka Ihedioha, former Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, and Senator Ita Enang, SSA to the President National Assembly Matters. In attendance were notable members of the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly, representatives of MDAs, members of the Civil Society Organizations, Development Partners, Diplomatic Community, Private Sector, Academia and the Media. Content of this communique was read out to the Colloquium for observations and corrections before it was unanimously adopted by the gathering. Signed: Oke Epia, Convener/Publisher, OrderPaper.ng Anthony Ubani, Moderator of Panel Session Chido Onumah, Head, Team of Rapporteurs September 26, 2016 By Sen. (Dr.) Ita Enang After my 3 terms of cumulative 12 years in the House of Representatives ( ) and 4 years in the Senate, His Excellency President, Muhammadu Buhari graciously appointed me as SSA to the President on National Assembly Senate in August, And it is on this platform that I want us to consider what I consider as fresh perspectives in legislative practice. The FIRST principal question is: When a bill has been passed by the legislature in session: State House of Assembly or National Assembly, can the legal draftsman or Clerk of the Assembly re-draft, add, edit, clean, or in any manner alter the bill different from what is reflected in the Votes and Proceedings or the Hansard of the legislative House in certifying to the President or Governor for Assent for bill to become law under the Acts Authentication Act? My answer is in the negative. If this happens, what is the status of such law and the remedy of the legislative community? The SECOND principal question is: Can the legislature be said to have passed an Appropriation Bill or any bill at all when it passes the body or Principal or indeed the frame of the Act but leaves the schedule-the detail in the case of the Appropriation Act, to be worked on by the Committees of Appropriations of Senate and House of representatives in the case of the National Assembly or by indeed by the chairman of the committees. The ANSWER is in the NEGATIVE. Can the schedule to a bill, in this case the Appropriations details which is not contained in the votes and proceedings of a legislative house, passed in the plenary or committee of supply and certified by the Clerk to the National Assembly or of the State House of Assembly as such be said to have been passed by the Assembly and can be enforceable as a law? Can a legislator: Senate President, Speaker of the House of representatives or speaker of a State House of Assembly or Chairman of a committee, in this case Chairmen of Appropriation Committees, FCT, Niger Delta, Communications, Land Transport, among several others sign or in any manner certify the budgets of the Agencies under their oversight jurisdictions under the Acts (Authentication) Act in addition to or independent of the Clerk, to the National Assembly or the State House of Assembly? I again ANSWER in the NEGATIVE. Can the legislature delegate to her committees the power vested in her to make laws and send it out as the act of the legislative body? In making laws have the legislators shown industry and legal research while debating bills at second reading and can their contributions be referenced in the future in the Hansard as done in the records of reputable legislatures of the world? (a) What are the preliminary steps in preparing for investigative/ public hearings within the confines of the constitution to produce compliant Why Appropriation Committees Cannot Sign off on the Budget recommendations to the Legislature to avoid litigations (b) Can the Legislature or her Committees conduct investigative hearing and recommend, adopt enforceable resolutions on matters which ought to be handled by the judiciary, or on matters outside her legislative competence? (c) What are the views of the courts on same? For ease of reference, is shall reproduce the questions hereunder. The FIRST principal question is: When a bill has been passed the legislature in session: State House of Assembly or National Assembly, can the legal draftsman or Clerk of the Assembly redraft, add, edit, clean, or in any manner alter the bill different from what is reflected in the Votes and Proceedings or the Hansard of the legislative house in certifying to the President or Governor for Assent for bill to become law under the Acts Authentication Act? My Answer is in the negative. ANSWER TO THE FIRST PRINCIPAL QUESTION: There is the common practice that after Bills may have been passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives, the legal department now re-drafts the Bill, perhaps changing certain words to give it a presentation in a legal draftsmen s perfect legislative draft. This in my view is inconsistent with the provisions of the law. An example is found in Clause 1 (iii) of Senate Votes and Proceedings (1) of Wednesday, 23rd March, 2016 which states, No part of the amount aforesaid shall be released from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation after the end of the year mentioned in subsection (1) of this section without prejudice to clause of the Bill. In drafting, the Management added without prejudice to clause of the Bill. (Emphasis mine to indicate the inclusion which was not part of what was passed at plenary as contained in the Votes and Proceedings) but included in the Bill certified by the Clerk to Mr. President for assent. The Bill passed, as passed, is reflected in the Votes and Proceedings and any drafting that introduces even a comma, or full stop or indeed the wordings that makes the certified different from what is contained in the votes as passed on the floor contaminates and makes it devoid of what was passed in plenary on the authority of the MACE in session. This practice appears age-long in Nigeria, and to my knowledge from The solution would be to attach a legal draftsman to every committee or Bill so that the perfection in drafting or cleaning could be done by draftsman before it is considered in committee of the whole. And for a Bill that that has differences and is committed to conference of the House and Senate, it should be done at the stage of the Conference Committee. This will ensure greater details and depth in the legislator when Bills are being considered in committee of whole and will give the legislator the ownership of the Act when assented to Evidence Act This is also important because under the Evidence Act, 2011, s.122. the courts are to take Judicial Notice of laws passed, so the Votes and Proceedings are authentic representation of the law as passed, as well as, in addition to the Hansard, a document from which the intention of the Enang legislature could be inferred when the court is in dilemma as to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament in course of adjudication. SECOND QUESTION The Legislature is to pass the Bill into the Law and a Bill includes the Schedule, except where the Legislature reserves in the Board or principal officer of the Commission the function of making subsidiary Legislation, which will be published at the end of the enabling Act upon Re-issue of Publication thereof in an issuing gazette. As a standard practice since 1999, the National Assembly in plenary will consider and pass the Appropriation Bill, but the details, referred to as the Schedule are often left to be worked on and forwarded to the ministries by the Chairmen of the Appropriation Committees. This is against the provisions of the Constitution, because at that stage the schedule is not passed by the National Assembly. Under the Acts Authentication Act, it is only that which is passed by the National Assembly that can be certified by the Clerk to the National Assembly. The Act provides in section 1 (2), 2 (1) (2)(3) and 3(1) as follows: Section 1(2) This Act shall apply to all laws passed by the National Assembly after the coming into operation of this Act. Section 2(1) The Clerk of the National Assembly shall forthwith after enactment, prepare a copy of each Bill as passed by both Houses of the National Assembly embodying all amendments agreed to, and shall endorse on the Bill and sign a certificate that the copy has been prepared as prescribed by this section and is a true copy of that Bill. (2) the Clerk of the National Assembly shall as from time to time directed by the President of the Senate prepare a Schedule of Bills passed at any time during a session and intended to be presented for assent; and shall certify on the Schedule that it is a true and correct record. (3) the schedule shall set forth the long title of a Bill and a summary of its contents and the respective dates on which each Bill passed each house of the National Assembly; and subject to the provisions of this section, when signed by the Clerk of the National Assembly the certificate shall be conclusive for all purposes, and if a Bill in the schedule is one to which section 58(5) or 55(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Act, 1999 applies, the schedule shall, in addition, be endorsed with prescribed certificate of the President of the Senate in respect of that Bill. Again section 62(3) & 4 of the 1999 Constitution provides: (3) The Senate and the House of Representatives shall appoint a joint CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

10 18 ORDERPAPERTODAY December 15, 2016 December 15, 2016 ORDERPAPERTODAY 19 BackroomBureau Nass Photo Roundup by Remi Richard Basil: The 3-Day Clerk of the House of Reps The bureaucracy of the legislature is hardly immune from the fluid political tides which guide the actions and/or inactions of legislators. Even though bureaucrats or civil servants in Parliament are demanded by Service Rules to be apolitical they must at the least stay sensitive to the political environment as dictated both by Members of Parliament and commanding hierarchy of the bureaucracy itself. This was a vital survival skill Mr. Edhere Uzezi Basil, immediate past Clerk of the House of Representatives seemed to have ignored or was ignorant of. That is one reason he would go down in the history of the National Assembly as the Clerk who served the shortest time in office. He was barely a week on the saddle when he bowed out. In fact, for practical purposes, he served the House as defacto Clerk for just three days. On Tuesday, September 13, 2016 Mr. Basil was introduced to the House in plenary by Speaker Yakubu Dogara as the new Clerk and substantive Dogara successor to Mr. Mohammed Sani- Omolori who had stepped up to become the Clerk of the National Assembly (CNA). By Thursday of same week, precisely on September 15, he was out of office. What happened? Was he removed? Was he status-barred from continuing in office? This is the story of power and politics of the National Assembly bureaucracy. On September 8, the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) announced the appointment Mr. Basil as substantive Clerk of the lower legislative chamber. He was until the announcement, acting Clerk and had served as Deputy to Sani-Omolori. The letter conveying the confirmation of Basil s elevation and addressed to him, read: I am writing to inform you that the National Assembly Service Commission has at its 445th meeting held on Thursday 8th September 2016, approved your appointment as Clerk to the House of Representatives. The appointment takes effect from 31st August The appointment which was based on the recommendation of the Clerk to the National Assembly is in recognition of your hard work, dedication to duty and responsible conduct as well as loyalty to the leadership of the National Assembly. It is therefore expected that you will continue to justify the confidence reposed in you by the Commission and the leadership of the National Assembly. Please accept my warmest congratulations. Notice that Basil s appointment was retroactive. That was a service benefit contrived and bestowed by Omolori. Insiders say the CNA in his recommendation had also advised that Basil be allowed to function in his new portfolio in spite of the fact that he was due for pre-retirement leave by September. (And if Service Rules were to be strictly followed, he would have been required to turn in his leave letter accordingly.) In other words, the freshly appointed Clerk was made to have a working leave till the three months when he was officially due to bow out of service. All was fine and well for Basil to enjoy the allure Why Appropriation Committees Cannot Sign off on the Budget CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 committee on finance consisting of an equal number of persons appointed by each House and may appoint other joint committee under the provisions of this section. (4) Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing such House to delegate to a committee the power to decide whether a bill shall be passed into law or to determine any matter which it is empowered to determine by resolution under the provisions of this Constitution, but the committee may be authorized to make recommendations to the House on any such matter. By the authority of section 62(4) above, the National Assembly cannot delegate to her Committee on Appropriation, Land Transport, FCT, and all other Committees the power to pass the schedule to the Federal Appropriation or the schedules thereof that are to be considered and passed by her. And Basil the Chairmen of those Committees cannot and should not append their signatures to any documents that goes out to the public, except the document to be laid on the table or considered on the floor, and immediately that is considered on the floor, It is the signature and certification by the Clerk to the National Assembly or the state House of Assembly that is recognized and lawful under the Acts (Authentication) Act and not that of a legislator. Again, it was to address situation that, a Chairman of the Standing Orders Reviews Committee under Rt. Hon. Masari s speakership and again, in 2007 under Rt. Hon. Olubunmi Etteh s speakership that I and my colleague committee members introduced a proviso to the procedure on Bills in Order 16 Rule 7 Standing Order 2003, repeated in year 2007 as such. This is now Order 12 Rule 19(8) on page 75 of the Standing Orders of Sani-Omolori the House of Representatives, reprinted 23rd March (the current and operative standing orders ) came to be. It states: Order 12 Rule 19(8) The clauses of an Appropriation Bill or a Supplementary Appropriation Bill shall stand postponed until after the consideration of any schedule to such Bill. Provided that before the passage of the Appropriation Bill, the details of the Budget (Compendium and Schedule) shall be presented on the floor of the House along with the Appropriation Bill Adherence to this provision would have addressed some trending issues in Federal Legislation. And I strongly so recommend. Excerpts of keynote address delivered by Sen. Enang, SSA to the President on National Assembly Matters, at the 2016 Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference held in Port Harcourt of his elevated office until the end of his career and retire with all the benefits his new status conferred. But unfortunately, he became enamoured by the allure in a manner that turned detrimental. Mr. Basil began to misstep hastily; the newly crowned clerk moved to swiftly appropriate power in a manner that offended the sensibilities of the powers that be in the National Assembly. Those who know told ORDERPAPERTODAY that one of those missteps was a rush to move into the office space of the Clerk, House of Representatives. He reportedly ordered that the office be prepared for his use even when it seemed the space was not yet ready for his use. He had also begun to target committee clerks he deemed not loyal to him: accordingly, feelers soon spread within the bureaucracy that a new set of favourites was emerging. A source told this newspaper that names of Basil s loyalists had been compiled for top posting within the House bureaucracy. These signals got to the CNA whose structure built over the years had suddenly come under threat of liquidation. Mr. Basil also got on the wrong side of political authorities in the House. (He may have over-estimated the weight of his political anchor embodied in a principal officer who incidentally, was his representative in the House.) There was an instance of Basil getting overruled by the Speaker with respect to placement of certain items on the order paper of a particular plenary session. That was after he had been advised by the Chairman, Rules and Business Committee, Emmanuel Oker-Jev. All of these presented signs to observers and powers-that-be in the House that Basil s tenure would be characterized by power-mongering. He also apparently forgot that his tenure was short and at the behest of the CNA, who expectedly, would watch idly by whilst his legacies and loyalists become prey to his successor s antics. Insiders say the CNA swiftly moved to halt a looming discontent in the House bureaucracy. And he was brutal in the way he went about it. Omolori, according to inside sources, summoned Basil and briskly demanded that he turned in his letter of pre-retirement leave. For full effect, he gave an ultimatum of Thursday September 15 for compliance. When the directive had yet to be complied with by the morning of the deadline, the CNA reportedly detailed a Director with a stern message to the embattled Clerk: if by close of work that Thursday the letter had not been turned in, he (Basil) would be prevented from accessing the office by the next day. Deflated and defeated, the Clerk sent in his letter of retirement leave. He packed his belongings from the much-coveted but briefly occupied office space. And that was how Basil effectively exited the Service of the National Assembly. Luckily for him however, he would be entitled to the full compliments of a retired substantive Clerk of the House of Representatives. -L-R: Chairman, House Committee on Investigation of the activities OF Federally Owned Development Finance Institutions, Mr. Emeka Anohu, Deputy Speaker House of representatives, Mr. Yusuf Lasun, and a member of the committee, Mr. Chukwuemeka Ujam during the inauguration of the committee L-R President, Nigeria Hockey Federation, Sen. Abdul Ningi, Vice President, Nigeria Olympic Committee and President, Nigeria Basketball Federation, Mr. Tijani Umar and Secretary General, Nigeria Olympic Committee Mr. Tunde Popoola, during an interactive meeting between the House of Representatives Committee on Sports and Ministry of Youths and Sports Development and other Agencies over the Budget 2016 Performance Review R-L: Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Mr. Yakubu Gambo; Managing Director, NIGCOMSAT, Mrs. Abimbola Alale; and General Manager, Accounts and Finance (NIGCOMSAT), Mr. Bello Shehu Malami, during an investigative hearing on insurance payments by Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs) L-R: Member House of Representatives for Aba North/South Federal Constituency, Mr.. Prestige Ossy, Edo State Deputy Governor, Mr. Philip Shaibu and Member representing Akoko Edo Federal Constituency, Mr. Peter Akpatason, during a visit by the Deputy Governor to the National Assembly Members of #OCCUPYNASSUNLTD protesting at the main gate of National Assembly over alleged corruption in the budget process and calling for the scrapping of the senate in Abuja L-R: Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Works, Toby Okechukwu, Chairman, Technical Committee for the Review of Roads Fund Bills, Engr. Chris Okoye, Deputy Chairman of the Committee,Mr. Amuda-Kannike and a member, Muhammed Ali Wudil during the inaugural meeting of the committee R-L- Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Commerce, Mr. Sylvester Ogbaga, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Ethics and Privilege, Mr. Ossai Nicolas Ossai and a member of the committee, Mr. Solomon Bulus Maren, during the public hearing on a Bill for an Act to provide for Secures Transactions, Registration and Regulation of Security Interest in Movable Assets and for Related Matters 2016 L-R: Director, Internal Control, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mary Uduk, Director General, Mounir Gwarzo and Executive Commissioner, Corporate Service, Zakawanu Garba, during an interactive session with the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Army, Mr. Rimande Shawulu Kwewum, Chief Whip, Mr. Parly Iriase and a member, Mr. Onawu Mohammed Ogoshi, during a public hearing Members of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (Shiites) staging a protest to call for the release of their detained leader, Ibraheem Zakzaky at National Assembly

11 20 ORDERPAPERTODAY December 15, 2016 December 15, 2016 ORDERPAPERTODAY 21 OntheSpot OntheSpot Senators Don t Receive a Kobo for Constituency Projects I Read Voraciously in My Spare Time Ossai Tejuoso Lanre Tejuoso is Chairman, Senate Committee on Health who is having his first stint as Senator after 12 years of failing elections. A Prince of the dynasty of His Royal Majesty, Oba Dr. Adedapo Tejuoso, CON, Karunwi III, Oranmiyan, Osile of Oke-Ona Egba and Olori Adetoun Tejuoso, he represents Ogun Central in the Red Chamber. In this interview conducted for #NASSReportCard Series, Sen. Tejuoso talks about a range of issues. Excerpts: As a first term member, what are the highlights of your participation in the 8th Senate thus far? Our expectation before getting to the Senate is the opposite of what we found on arrival. In the last one year plus you know it has been a very peculiar period as the assignments we are supposed to have focused on more- bills, policies and so on we were distracted from them. Rather we were focused on political and leadership problems, trying to get the institution stabilized. So we had to express our wisdom individually to ensure that whilst the leadership problem was going on we still had to ensure that we promote the interests of our constituents somehow. For me, being chairman of a Grade A committee as a first time senator is some achievement; at least my people are proud of that position which is for them because I am representing them. And we have discharged our mandate in this regard quite creditably; for example on the issue of budget scrutiny and oversight- if you remember during the 2016 budget defence it was our committee that discovered about 4billion naira the Minister of Health did not know about which some people put there. And that was the beginning of the padding saga. How did you feel when a news website (Saharareporters) published the telephone numbers of NASS members? Well, it comes with the territory although that was the first time public servants would be exposed in that way. In a day, I was receiving up to 500 texts and phone calls and 95% of them were asking for favours- school fees, payment for rents; burials- nobody talked about please introduce this bill or this policy. It shows that our people do not know exactly what the work of the legislator is otherwise they won t be asking for such. We don t have budget that we control from which we can give jobs and favours to people. So if how a senator is judged is how much favour he gives to his constituents then we are not yet getting it right. But unfortunately that is the casehow many people you paid their school fees, house rents and all that- that is the parameters they use to judge a successful senator. Of course I give whatever is in my capacity to give and have always done so even before I became a senator anyway. But the people now ask more because they believe it is their right and because of the economic situation in the country it makes matters worse. But we have to keep doing what we have to do as long as God continues to bless us. How do rate the leadership style and performance of Senate President Saraki? I believe Senator Saraki is the Senate President Nigeria needs for this time. I will say for this time because for the first time in the history of democracy in Nigeria, the opposition took over power. And the Senate has been the stabilizer that we have not felt the impact of a very aggressive opposition; he could relate with the PDP (maybe because of his history with them) and also relate with us (APC members). For instance in the history of ministerial screening, we had 100% success without any financial gratification. The story we used to hear before is that before a minister is cleared there must have been exchanges of ghana-must-go; this time we did not even hear of anyone offered or demanding. So that is a major achievement of this 8th Senate. As a blue blood do you have any difficulties in public service like you talked about your phone numbers being exposed to the world by Sahara reporters? That is part of the exposure one would get in the business that we are in- politics. That was the minimum exposure one could get anyway- we campaigned all over the six local government areas that make up my senatorial district; there is no exposure that is more than that. I have been trying to get to the Senate for the past 12 years I started with Mr. President. We were contesting elections together; failing together and we succeeded together at the same time. So we have been exposed for years. I was the chairman of CPC convention in 2011 and I raised Gen. Buhari s hand as candidate then. I have been attacked before in 2006 when I was contesting against Iyabo Obasanjo. What should your constituents look forward to from you going forward? We have to be practical. The problems of our constituents today are that of food, water, power and other basic infrastructures. And then to be supported financially. That is the present problem they want us to attend to. But as we do what we can we also try to educate them to know that we are not in charge of the budget. But they ask us to do the impossible- we should build roads, schools. We can appeal to the governors and federal authorities and local government chairmen to do most of the things they are asking for. Even the constituency projects they talk about; all we do is to send to a location that we want the projects; it is the Executive that will go and do it; we never touch one kobo. So our people need to be educated on this. How much do senators earn? From the documents given to us, we earn less than one million naira a month- about seven hundred and ninety-something thousand a month. That is what we earn. You can now say the money they give you to maintain your office is your salary; it is not your salary. Even civil servants after salary they get money for fuel, maintaining the office and so on. Take for example- I have about 120 institutions under me- teaching hospitals, federal medical centres all over the country and we have to visit them from time to time to see how they are implementing the budget. How do we get there? Who is going to pay for it? If you want to be a good oversight are you going to ask them to pay for you to come? If that happens what are you then oversighting? Because you will be biased as he who pays the piper dictates the tune. So these are allowances to run the office that is not even enough. Is that what you are calling my salary? Let us not shy away from the reality. Ossai Nicholas Ossai is a two-term member of the House of Representatives representing Ndokwa West/Ukwuani/Ndokwa East federal constituency of Delta State. This vibrant legislator chairs the Committee on Ethics and Privileges which is like the ombudsman of the lower chamber. He granted this interview for the #NASSReportCard Series. Excerpts: What would you say has marked this 8th National Assembly separately from the previous one you were a part of? I think the agenda are different- the previous 7th assembly had a more radical approach to issues; this one is moderate and more structured. Why do I say more structured is because for the first time the National Assembly is debating on sectoral basis- inviting ministers to throw more light on policies that define the current APC Government to make members more acquainted so as to integrate their constituencies to be part of the policies of government. Another defining factor of this 8th assembly is the inauguration of a committee on Code of Conduct that produced a code for the House- a code that can guide the behavior and activities of members. It completely defines the 8th assembly. And the House to churn out 84 bills, passed in the first one year is by no means a big achievement different from the 7th assembly. And don t forget coupled with the presence of very experienced members that have been guiding activities on the floor and committees have brought some difference in the activities of the 8th National Assembly. What about the leadership? What impacts has it made compared to the last assembly? I think the leadership of the 7th assembly had a great leadership especially in the persons of Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and EmekaIhedioha- two great persons that piloted the House. Although there were problems between the Executive and Legisture because of the manner in which they came in. even though the current Speaker came in same manner he has been able to integrate others to lower the tension in the House and the harmony that exists today is a great one; Dogara is a focused leader and visionary. And having known the mistakes of the past and been part of the House since the 6th Assembly I think with those experiences he has been able to define how his leadership has to be. What is the highlight of your participation in the 1st year of this 8th assembly? I have churned out a lot of Bills. The robust debate that took place on the Appropriation Bill was a remarkable contribution by the entire House and the Sectorial Debates were highlights of the House that have transformed the image of the House into a different level. There is also the interaction between the leadership and other organs of government in resolving issues amicably has also defined the 8th assembly. In what ways have the change of political party status impacted on this assembly given that we now reversal of roles with PDP as opposition party unlike being the majority party in the previous assembly? Party lines are hardly noticed in the National Assembly because we try to build national consensus; we don t really focus on party issues; we are more concerned with the integrity of the legislature as an organ of government. Change of guards hardly defines the assembly; we think alike. People want to impact their constituents and when you think that way it doesn t really change the mood and architecture of the House. Are you constituents happy and impressed with your representation so far? I will say yes. You know there are three legs of the legislative work- in terms of the law-making process I think they are happy as the image of the Ukwani and Ndokwa people has been projected into national limelight. It gives me a lot of prestige when people call me an Ukwani man; people now recognize my people in the midst of majority ethnic groups. Secondly in terms of representation, people want money and empowerment. I cannot say I can achieve that completely but in terms of consultations I do pretty well and they do recognize that but oftentimes people say they need money. And in order to help I do a lot of registration of cooperatives for my people to integrate them to access funds. That also motivated me to sponsor a Bill on Secured Transactions and Collateral Registry where you can access funds using movable assets; that can benefit my people a lot; a lot of them are artisans and farmers. With your furniture in the house you can walk to the bank and register and access some funds to bolster your farming business and get more income. Thirdly, you know my people are from the oil-producing areas where the land has been degraded and the multi-national companies have so much dehumanized the people to the extent that corporate social responsibility never existed and that motivated me to do a research in my Ph.D and I felt it is not enough to contribute to the body of knowledge but also make sure there is an instrument of law that can compel the companies to address those lingering problems of degradation in the communities. It is in this light that I sponsored the Bill on Corporate Social Responsibility that has passed second reading and public hearing with lots of commendation. I believe that if those things are actualized and those laws passed it can address lots of the problems of my people and at the end of the day when they see the problems being addressed, they will be happy with me. How do you relax and unwind? You know there is this adage that when a white man wants to hide something from a black man he puts it in a book. I read. That is one of my hobbies and as an academician, I read voraciously with an analytical mind.

12 22 ORDERPAPERTODAY December 15, 2016 December 15, 2016 ORDERPAPERTODAY 23 BillsBoard NIDZC Bill: Empowering Buhari s Economic Diversification Bid The Nigeria Industrial Development and Zones Commission Bill, 2016, is one of the critical pieces of legislation necessary for the much-needed industrialization and diversification of the Nigerian economy. The bill seeks to update and strengthen the enabling law to address the present-day challenges of Free Zone operation. The bill aims to repeal the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) Act 63 of 1992 and in turn establish the Nigerian Industrial Development and Zones Commission as the exclusive regulatory agency responsible for licensing, monitoring and regulating Free Zones in Nigeria. The bill also seeks to consolidate all other subsidiary legislations into a single law. The bill is sponsored by Senator Fatimat Raji Rasak, Chairperson, Senate Committee on Trade and Investment. It has presently passed second reading in the red chambers and has been referred to Committee for further consideration. With the global slump in price of crude oil and the dwindling fortunes of oil revenue, the Federal government of Nigeria is beginning to look inwards to reassess the many neglected potentials and opportunities to further diversify its economy. One of such is the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) scheme. A Senator Fatimat Raji Rasak Special Economic Zone is a geographically delineated area which enjoys special trade laws and regulations distinct from the rest of the country. It is important to mention that Special Economic Zone is the generic term for all variants of Free Zones and may include Free Trade Zones, Export Processing Zones, Oil and Gas Export Free Zone and Industrial Parks, etc. Business operators within the designated areas are usually granted exemptions from taxes, duties, quotas, customs inspection and even labour regulations. The aim is to lure foreign investors in to grow the local economy through trade, manufacturing and job creation. The idea of SEZ is not particularly new. It has since been adopted by advanced countries around the world to accelerate their economic growth. But it was introduced into Nigeria in 1992 by the then military government, with the promulgation of Nigerian Export Processing Zone Decree. The Decree regulated the creation of Export Processing Zones across the country for export oriented manufacturing in the non-oil sector. Subsequently in 1996, the Oil and Gas Export Free Zone Decree was promulgated to exclusively cover oil and gas related activities and was located at the Onne/Ikpokri area of Rivers State. As at today however, there are 33 Special Economic Zones in Nigeria, with about 14 being operational. Some of the notable ones are Tinapa Free Zone and Resort, Kano Free Trade Zone and Lekki Free Zone. A close examination of the Nigerian Industrial Development and Zones Commission Bill reveals that it introduces new sections to fortify the enabling law, while retaining some salient provisions of the NEPZA law. Some highlights of the bill include Section 1, which establishes a new authority to be known as the Nigerian Industrial Development and Zones Commission with the mandate to promote development in the Free Zones and industrial hubs within the country. A new subsection 3 is introduced to confer the Commission with the sole authority to license and regulate SEZs. Section 3 of the bill categorizes the licensing of SEZs into Free Zones and Other Special Economic Zones. Free Zones refer to a designated area of land outside Customs control, where goods are exempted from import duties, taxes and incorporation requirements. While Other Special Economic Zones refer to designated area of land within the Customs territory but only given specific fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, access control and infrastructural support as determined by the Commission. Subsection 2 further categorizes the licensing of SEZs according to Sector (Agro processing, Oil and Gas, Aviation Zones, etc), Purpose and Scale of Zones. Also, the Commission is conferred by section 5 with exclusive responsibility to administer regulations on issues of corporate registry, land registry and international finance and banking. Section 10 of the bill provides that approved enterprises operating within a Free Zone shall be granted fiscal incentives and exempted from Federal, State and Local Government taxes, levies and rates as will be determined by the Commission. Section 15 stipulates that payment for goods and services transacted between the Free Zone and the Custom territory shall be made in foreign currency. This implies that although raw material and goods can be imported into the Zones free from Customs duty, payment for them shall be made in foreign currency. This is intended to boost local trade and enhance foreign exchange earnings by encouraging local sourcing and supply of raw material and component items intended to be used in the Free Zones. The SEZ investment model has proved an effective means of driving economic growth when properly implemented. Countries in East Asia; China, Singapore, South Korea have reaped its benefits. China especially, is the most successful country to have achieved economic transformation by leveraging on SEZs. China in 1980 experimented with four locations designated as SEZs and immediately witnessed exponential growth. Due to its successes, by March 2013 there were no less than 191 SEZs in *Ndugbu is a legislative consultant and specialist in legal drafting and bill analysis for OrderPaper.ng. He can be reached at c.ndugbu@orderpaper.ng; China. It was reported in 2010 that SEZs were responsible for about 22 percent of national GDP, 46 percent of Foreign Direct Investment, 60 percent of exports and generated in excess of 30 million jobs. The success of SEZ in these countries encouraged other developing nations to adopt the model. However, the results have not been all rosy for the latter-day economies such as India, Nigeria and some other Sub-Sahara African countries. It is quite unfortunate that 23 years after the scheme was introduced, Nigeria is yet to harness its economic potentials. The failure of the SEZ model has been attributed to poor infrastructure, lack of commitment by the federal government, rigid and outdated laws, failure to adapt the scheme to domestic peculiarities and inconsistent government policies among others. The vision of Nigeria becoming one of the leading economies cannot be achieved if the industrial sector is not revamped. No country can ever grow its economy by relying on imports, while merely exporting raw materials without a robust manufacturing base. Nigeria has to take the bold step of shifting away from reliance on foreign aid and loans to facilitating favourable trade relations with other advanced economies through industrialization. Foreign investment has to be courted and wooed as there are other markets competing for the same investors. Nigeria with her huge market and voracious consumer appetite has what it takes to persuade investors to take advantage of the Special Economic Zones scheme. But such potential must be backed with proper legislation and commitment. With the current economic recession facing the country, the National Assembly and Mr. President are implored to treat the National Industrial Development and Zones Commission Bill, 2016, with all sense of urgency. The bill when passed into law will provide the necessary support to the federal government in its drive to revamp the nation s economy through accelerated industrialization. This will in turn lead to the creation of jobs and ultimately generate wealth for the country. Beyond an effective legislation however, the federal government needs to draw on the useful lessons and experiences of China and other countries with successful SEZ programmes. The federal government should not only focus on tax incentives but also put efforts on improving the business environment and infrastructure. Equally important is the fact that the SEZ model is not a one size fits all, the federal government should adopt a development model that is best suited for our local comparative and competitive advantage. 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13 ORDERPAPERTODAY December 15, 2016 GuestColumnist Aminu Waziri Tambuwal This space is for sale Inclusion, Way Out of Budget Crisis Aminu Waziri Tambuwal I must commend the organizers of this conversation for their foresight in putting together this event in an effort to widen the scope of discussion on our budgetary process. This is coming at a time when despite the economic challenges confronting us, the whole nation is subjected to a painful rhetoric on appropriation process. It is clear that with the uncalled-for altercations we have had over the years on budgets; we need to reform the federal budgetary process to make it more lucid, inclusive and implementable. Part of the reasons why we have had problems with the budget over the years is the paucity of knowledge about the whole budget process. This type of conversation is therefore critical to the effort we must make to make the budgetary process accessible to all and encourage more participation in this crucial national issue. It is our firm belief that if more stakeholders, especially the major players in the process, can gain greater insight into the whole system of budgeting, and if the National Assembly as an Arm of Government can attain the dexterity demanded to examine the budgetary estimates submitted annually by the President, there will be less attrition and mistrust between the two Arms of Government. One of the problems we have in this country is near absence of planning in our budgetary process. If at all we are interested in making progress in our efforts to reform our budgetary process, we have to begin to get our planning and budgeting right. Can you imagine from Rolling Plans and Annual Budgets through to Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Annual Budgets, it has always been a routine? Our planning and budget design is executed without zeal and passion and it is similarly implemented without much national commitment. Perhaps that was why appropriations in this democratic dispensation have had a chequered history which is a common knowledge. This idea of inclusiveness should not only pertain to members of the National Assembly who are constitutionally mandated to perform oversights on the federal budget, but Goje Udoma should include other arms of government, civil society groups, leaders of the private sector and private citizens. Everyone, in fact, must be allowed to contribute at every stage from the budget preparation, passage, implementation, supplementary or amendment stages. Indeed, it would be helpful if as soon as the Appropriation Dawaki Committees get hold of the budget they immediately hold public hearings for Business Leaders, NGOs, Public Servants, Representatives of Blue Collar Workers, Farmers and the General Public. This will eventually lead to a document that at least has inputs from a cross section of the Nigerian society. There are suggestions that we take a cue from the system in the United States where agencies take two years to prepare their budget proposals, fine-tuning it so well that one year before the budget year they get to submit it to the Budget Office for inclusion in the President s budget estimates to the National Assembly. According to Section 81 of the 1999 Constitution, The President shall cause to be prepared and laid before each House of the National Assembly at any time in each financial year estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the Federation for the next following financial year. This implies that a President is expected, at the very least, to present his budget before January 1st of the New Year. There is a need to amend the Constitution to make the President submit his proposals at least three months before the end of the preceding financial year so that the legislature can perform its vetting duties in time for the Budget to be operational by January 1st. Indeed, it will be helpful if the National Assembly gets some kind of time frame within which it is expected to finish deliberations and return the budget to the President for assent. For the process of passing our national budget to become harmonious, less turbulent, and implementable, the stakeholders must develop the principles of collaboration, consensus and compromise. Most significantly, the Executive must plan way ahead, submit the proposals early, and make wide consultations to encourage inputs from a variety of stakeholders. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, we must always remember that this country comes first and we owe it to the people to make the budget an effective instrument for redistributing wealth and bring the dividends of democracy closer to our people. Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, Governor of Sokoto State and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, made this remark at the Gallery Colloquium on Budgetary Reforms held in Abuja in September. Get up-to-the-minute updates on the Parliament on Facebook.com/Orderpaper