Politics
House Members Clash With Speaker Over $15 Million Distribution Dispute
The House of Representatives members may be headed for a confrontation with Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila due to claims of uneven allocation of a $15 million gift from the executive branch of the government.
The group of discontented lawmakers specifically accused Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila of engaging in a clandestine agreement with the executive branch to approve a N22.7 trillion borrowing from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and subsequently, failing to fairly distribute the $15 million offered to the House as a sweetener.
As a result of this situation, Gbajabiamila has reportedly postponed the resumption of the House’s plenary session, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday, in order to address the concerns of the disgruntled members and find a resolution to the brewing crisis.
The Speaker justified the adjournment of the plenary by claiming that the previously announced date was a mistake.
The clerk of the House, Yahaya Danzaria, in a terse statement on Monday said, “This is to inform all Hon Members and the general public that the House of Representatives will not resume plenary on Tuesday 16th May, 2023 as earlier announced.
“The next adjourned date will be Wednesday 17th May, 2023 at 11:00am. Please disregard earlier notice and date; it was made in error. All inconveniences are highly regretted.”
It is currently uncertain whether the tensions between the House members and the Speaker have been resolved or not.
According to one of the lawmakers who spoke with a correspondent, a significant number of representatives hold grievances against the Speaker, and it is possible that there may be a physical altercation when the plenary session reconvenes.
The House had on Tuesday, 31st January, authorised the president to borrow a fresh N1 trillion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to fund the 2022 supplementary budget.
While the House approved restructuring of the N1tn WMAs, the lawmakers dropped the request for N22,719,703,774,306.90 from the CBN.
After several negotiations with members of the concerned committees of the House and other critical stakeholders, Gbajabiamila secured commitment of the House to pass the request on Thursday, 4th May.
It was also gathered that the $15milion was allegedly negotiated for by Gbajabiamila but he kept it away from his colleagues until last week when lawmakers got wind of the funds and accused him directly.
It was further gathered that the speaker immediately ordered disbursement of $10, 000 to each lawmaker, amounting to $3.6 million, as their own share of the largesse, and adjourned plenary. A rough calculation of the amount suggested that the speaker might have kept over $11million to himself.
“You can see that he didn’t allow the plenary to reconvene as planned. He knows that there is a crisis and he doesn’t want the deputy speaker to preside over a plenary with the situation on ground. How can only one person even take more money than the entire 360 members and call himself a leader. He is too greedy,” the member said.
Another member who spoke to our correspondent alleged that short-changing lawmakers had been Gbajabiamila’s stock in trade and that the speaker already bit more than he could chew.
“Let me tell you, this is not the first time. The executive released about N10bn for members of the House ahead of the elections; we only got $10, 000 each. Members are asking, what did Femi do with the balance? A similar amount was approved for the Senate and each Senator received about $40, 000,” he said.
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The special adviser to the Speaker on media and publicity, Lanre Lasisi, refused to answer his calls or respond to text messages via his WhatsApp Portal on Monday and Tuesday.
Another aide of the Speaker who was central to the transaction picked his call but as soon as the question was put to him, he hung up the phone on our correspondent and never picked repeated calls made to his mobile phone.
A returning lawmaker from the North Central confirmed to our correspondent that the money was shared and he got his own $10, 000 share.
When pointedly asked if it was for passing the N22.7 trillion, the ranking lawmaker said, “That is what they said, it is true, I have collected my own.”
The member representing Makurdi/Guma Federal Constituency of Benue State, Benjamin Mzondu, however, denied knowledge of the transaction.
Mzomdu in a telephone conversation with our correspondent yesterday said, “I am not aware of this, I am hearing it from you for the first time. I am a lawmaker and I didn’t get any money.”
When our correspondent argued that the information was released on the lawmakers’ group chat, Mzondu said, “I didn’t see it on our platform, I am not aware of it.”
The Ways and Means provision allows the government to borrow from the apex bank when in need of short-term or emergency finance to fund delayed government expected cash receipts of fiscal deficits.
The federal government had said it would repay the loan, which as at December 2022 stood at N22.7 trillion, with securities, such as treasury bills and bonds issuance.
President Buhari in December last year asked both chambers of the National Assembly to approve his proposal but the lawmakers, who had promised to consider it before proceeding for the election break, failed to do so.
While presenting reports on the Ways and Means to the plenary in January, the chairman, House Committees on Finance, Banking and Currency and Aids, Loans and Debts Management, Hon James Faleke, said, “The committees looked into the request of Mr Buhari to restructure the N22.7 trillion ways and means advances.
“In the report, the committees recommended that the government take the N1 trillion CBN loan ‘based on the observations and the exigencies of the federal government’s current fiscal situation’ for the “implementation of the 2022 Supplementary Appropriations Act as passed by the National Assembly.”
It further recommended “further engagements with the executive by the joint committee to allow for thorough and detailed work and submissions on the larger part of the advances, which amounts to N22.7 trillion.”
In December 2022, President Buhari made a request to the National Assembly, seeking their authorization to convert the N22.7 trillion debt and an additional N1 trillion loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) into federal government securities.
Following his observations that ‘the momentum was strong’ Matt Gaetz whom 47th POTUS elect, Donald Trump nominated for Attorney General has withdrawn.
Biztellers reports that this follows his meeting with Senate and the feedback, which included two women, represented by their attorneys, who accused him of having paid for sex.
Consequently, Gaetz placed on record his full commitment to seeing “that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history.”
His withdrawal according his statement on micro-blogging site, X, was based on his conviction that “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle”.
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In is view, “Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1”.
Gaetz wrote, “I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback – and the incredible support of so many. While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition. There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1.
“I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history. I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will Save America.”
His backers have promptly encouraged to take his seat in the House of Representatives, having been elected to the house under the flag of the Republicans to represent Florida.
The Executive Governors from Nigeria’s South West have unanimously nominated Senator Ademola Adeleke as the chairman of the zone on the National Economic Council (NEC).
Adeleke is the Executive Governor of Osun State, southwest, Nigeria.
This, according to the Spokesperson to Governor Adeleke, Olawale Rasheed, transpired on Thursday, at a meeting of the NEC.
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He noted that the meeting reviewed the state of Nigeria’s electricity sector and resolved to engage subnational structures to address current challenges in the sector.
“The meeting particularly sought to build on the devolution of the electricity sector and its movement into the concurrent legislative list which empowers state governments to regulate the sector in their respective areas,” he stated.
Consequently, the NEC, therefore set up an ad hoc committee to review actions in the sector by state governments and explore ways to ramp up activities through coordination, Rasheed highlighted.
The full list of members of NEC’s Ad-hoc Committee on National Electrification:
- Governor of Cross Rivers State, Bassey Out – Chairman, South-South
- Governor of Katsina State, Mallam Dikko Umaru Radda – Chairman, North-West
- Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya – Chairman, North-East
- Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke – Chairman, South-West
- Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma – Chairman, South-East
- Governor of Plateau State, Barr. Caleb Mutfwang – Chairman, North-Central
- Hon. Minister of Finance, Wale Edun
- Hon. Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu
- Special Adviser, NEC and Climate Change, Rukaiya El-Rufai
- Special Adviser, Power Minister, Hon. Bolaji Tunji
- MD/CEO Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu
- MD/CEO Niger Delta Power Holding Company, Jennifer Adighije
- Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum, AbdulRahman AbdulRazak
- NEC Secretariat
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has announced its decision to back Northern candidates in the 2027 general elections, citing the urgent need to address the worsening socio-economic and security challenges facing the region.
In a communique issued after its National Executive Council meeting in Kaduna on Wednesday, the forum expressed deep concern over the economic state of Northern Nigeria under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, attributing the region’s struggles to flawed governance and poor policy decisions.
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The ACF criticized the Federal Government’s economic policies, describing them as detrimental to the livelihoods of Northern citizens.
According to the communique, signed by the forum’s National Publicity Secretary, Professor Tukur Muhammad-Baba, the policies have compounded the already dire economic conditions in the region.
The statement reads, “Arewa people remain at a great disadvantage, being already worse off economically compared to other parts of Nigeria. While economic reforms are indeed desirable, they should not impoverish the same people they are meant to serve. Policies must have a human face.”
The forum noted that the North faces chronic food insecurity, limited educational and vocational opportunities for youth, and a heavy reliance on small-scale economic activities.
“Livelihoods are currently dependent on micro activities. The region faces acute and chronic food insecurity; its youths lack education and skills training. Daunting as these may be, they can be reversed. The time to think big is now,” the communique emphasized.
The ACF also addressed the pervasive insecurity in the North, warning that the situation has begun to erode public confidence in the government.
“Security is an irreducible minimum of human existence. In this regard, insecurity in its various manifestations remains the most worrisome challenge of Arewa people, that has even started to corrosively undermine the authority of government,” the forum stated.
It condemned the government’s response to the crisis, arguing that the Federal Government has failed to meet its primary duty of safeguarding lives and property.
“That those whose responsibility it is to provide security will be saying they are doing their best is unacceptable,” the communique said. “The minimum duty of government is to safeguard life and property, and doing anything less is a failure.”
The ACF faulted what it described as the “flawed leadership selection process” under the Tinubu administration, claiming it has elevated individuals without the requisite competence or experience to key positions.
It urged the Federal Government to “review, reassess, reevaluate, and re-order the direction of its economic policies with a view to giving it the needed human face.”
Looking ahead to the next general elections, the ACF pledged its support for Northern politicians who demonstrate a clear commitment to addressing the region’s challenges and fostering national development.
“Notwithstanding the parlous state of Arewa’s glaring economic conditions, the policies of the current Federal Government have continued to make matters much worse,” the communique stated.
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