Against the background of allegations of budget padding and abuse of
\npublic trust by the leadership of the House of Representatives,
\nSocio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has told the
\nSpeaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara that, \u201cThere is
\nabsolutely no constitutional provisions that grant to members or leaders
\nof the House of Representatives the power to insert projects in the
\nbudget.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization said that \u201cthe idea of members of the National Assembly
\nallocating projects to their constituencies and then approving such
\nprojects is a grave and direct affront to basic constitutional principles
\nof equity, fairness, transparency, accountability and separation of
\npowers.\u201d<\/p>\n
SERAP\u2019s statement signed by its executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni is in
\nresponse to Mr Dogara\u2019s defence of the decision of the lower chamber to
\nunilaterally insert 2,000 items into the 2016 budget after former Chairman
\nof Appropriation Committee, Abdulmumin Jibril accused the principal
\nofficers of padding the budget.<\/p>\n
According to Mr Dogara, \u201cSo the budget being a law, therefore, means that
\nit is only, I repeat, only the parliament that can make it because it is
\nlaw and I challenge all of us to look at the law and tell me where it is
\nwritten that the President can make the budget.\u201d Jibril alleged that the
\nspeaker had allocated projects worth N4 billion to his constituency,
\nleaving 359 other members of the lower chambers \u201cto share the remaining
\nN36 billion out of N40 billion unilaterally inserted in the budget.<\/p>\n
But SERAP disagreed with Mr Dogara, stating that, \u201cThe practice of
\nconstituency projects directly undermines the 1999 Constitution (as
\namended), which provides the framework for rule of law, separation of
\npowers, checks and balances amongst the organs of government. It\u2019s
\ncontrary to the public interest; inequitable, disproportionate, unfair and
\na clear case of conflict of interest for leaders of the National Assembly
\nto enjoy unbridled discretion in the allocation and diversion of projects
\nto their constituencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to SERAP, \u201cTo justify project insertion in the budget is to
\nplace the interest of the leaders of House of Representatives over and
\nabove the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
SERAP\u2019s statement reads in part: \u201cThe constitutional role of the National
\nAssembly is limited to the authorisation of any public spending by the
\nexecutive and not insertion of projects in the budget. Authorisation of
\npublic spending literally means official permission to take a step and
\ndoesn\u2019t equate insertion of projects in the budget. The House of
\nRepresentatives absolutely has no power to insert any projects in the 2016
\nbudget that was not originally part of the estimates of the executive in
\nthe Appropriation Bill.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s true that some projects were arbitrarily and unlawfully included
\nin the 2016 budget by some leaders of the House of Representatives, then
\nthose portions of the Appropriation Act would be deemed void under section
\n1 of the 1999 Constitution, which provides for the supremacy of the
\nconstitution and that any other law (including the Appropriation Act)
\nwhich is inconsistent with constitutional provisions will be deemed void
\nto the extent of the inconsistency.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mr
\nAbubabar Malami SAN, should move swiftly to approach the court to set
\naside those portions of the budget that were not parts of the original
\nestimates submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National
\nAssembly. Alternatively, Mr Malami should advise President Buhari not to
\nimplement the aspects of the budget that were padded.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Malami should also test the constitutionality of the practice of
\nconstituency projects if corrupt practices and abuse of power in the
\ndesign and implementation of national budget are to be effectively
\nprevented and combated. This proposed action will serve the best interests
\nof all and the general welfare of Nigeria, especially the victims of
\ncorruption who continue to be denied the right to an effective remedy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGranted that a major component of the oversight function of the National
\nAssembly is to consider and pass the Appropriation Bill into law and that
\nno money can be withdrawn or spent from the Consolidation Revenue Fund or
\nany other public funds except with the authorization of the National
\nAssembly. But this oversight function cannot and should never be used as a
\npretext by the leadership of the House of Representatives to assume
\ninherently executive functions whether directly or by proxies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNigerians have never received value for money in the execution (if at
\nall) of any consistency projects. The practice also directly violates the
\nProcurement Act 2007 which regulates the mode of procurement of goods and
\nservices in any government or governmental institutions, thus promoting
\npublic accountability, probity, transparency and openness in such
\ntransactions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSpecifically, the Act requires that the process of bidding and the choice
\nof the suppliers of any service or goods are made open to all persons or
\nbusiness entities that are qualified for the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP is seriously concerned that there is little or nothing to show on
\nthe ground for the over N900 billion appropriated for constituency
\nprojects between 2004 and 2013 alone.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThe leaders of the House of Representatives will do well to focus on
\ntheir primary constitutional duty of making laws for the peace, order and
\ngood government, and performing oversight role on spending of public funds
\nrather than engaging in inherently execution functions of designing and
\nexecuting projects This will enhance the operation of the sacred principle
\nof separations of powers and the ability of the House to properly hold the
\nexecutive to account for spending of public funds.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Against the background of allegations of budget padding and abuse of public trust by the leadership of the House of Representatives, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has told the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n