Constitution: Govs meet, plan to battle Jonathan (Endless meetings)

Posted by admin Constitution, Governors Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

Indications emerged on Tuesday that the Nigerian Governors’ Forum was poised for a showdown with President Goodluck Jonathan over issues like the constitutional amendments, the Sovereign Wealth Fund and the Excess Crude Account.

THE PUNCH learnt that the governors at their meeting in Abuja on Tuesday resolved to mobilise their state houses of assembly to work against some aspects of the proposed amendments to the constitution.

Present at the meeting, our correspondent gathered, were nineteen governors and eight deputy governors who represented their principals.

Apart from the governors’ adamant rejection of the Sovereign Wealth Fund, the governors are said to be planning to fight the deductions of money from the revenues and the putting of the same in the Excess Crude Account.

At the end of the meeting, the Chairman of the NGF, who is also the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, refused to disclose the outcome to journalists.

He said, “The meeting was basically called to look at constitutional amendment; the meeting was inconclusive because there were a lot of items we did not deliberate upon.

“We have deferred the meeting to weeks from now when we will meet, conclude and issue a communiqué to the press.”

The governor, who refused to answer further questions on issues deliberated at the meeting, added that the governors had resolved to meet with the President on SWF and constitutional amendments.

According to the Rivers governor, nine issues were listed for discussion at the meeting but only four were discussed and that the meeting was cut short for the governors to attend the inauguration of a job creation opportunity programme by the President.

However, one of the attendees who spoke to one of our correspondents on the condition of anonymity, said that the governors were ready to stand against “any form of impunity” by the Federal Government.

“If the Federal Government says it is rule of law, then let us go to court to resolve these issues. If it is about amendment using the members of the assembly, then it will be National Assembly versus State Houses of Assembly,” the source said.

It was learnt that the governors also resolved at the Tuesday meeting to support any move that would see to the scrapping of the state independent national electoral commissions.

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan and his finance minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Tuesday asked for the support of the National Assembly in ensuring the withdrawal of fuel subsidy from January 2012.

Jonathan and Okonjo-Iweala made the appeal during a meeting with the chairmen of committees from both chambers of the National Assembly.

“We were briefed on the safety nets, other things that they are expected to do for Nigerians and those who will suffer as a result of the subsidy removal,” Senate spokesman, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, told journalists after the meeting in Abuja.

Also, Abaribe denied that the Senate did not want to consider a motion seeking an investigation into the administration of subsidy of petroleum products. The motion was sponsored by Senator Bukola Saraki, a former governor of Kwara State.

Saraki, in his motion which was billed to be debated on Tuesday, alleged extra budgeting and excessive spending against the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, in the administration of fuel subsidy.

The Senate spokesman said the motion might be taken on Wednesday (today), explaining that it was not taken on Tuesday because of the assembly’s joint valedictory session held in honour of the late Chief Umeh Ezeoke.

In a letter to the National Assembly, last week, Jonathan had proposed the removal of the fuel subsidy from January next year.

“A major component of the policy of fiscal consolidation is government’s intention to phase out the fuel subsidy, beginning from the 2012 fiscal year.

“This will free up about N1.2 tn in savings, part of which can be deployed into providing safety nets for poor segments of the society to ameliorate the effects of the subsidy removal,” Jonathan wrote in the covering letter for the 2012 budget.

Although Abaribe did not give details of the meeting, he said issues affecting the 2012 budget, such as the parameters for the various projections, were discussed.

Asked if lawmakers were satisfied with the Federal Government’s explanations on the removal subsidy, he replied, “I cannot say for now what the position of the National Assembly is, the decision on that will be taken when the budget is presented and debated on the floor.”

He also said that members were also briefed on global economic trends and how they were likely to affect the Nigerian economy in the short term.

Abaribe noted that Jonathan had requested that a January – to – December budget cycle be adopted.

He, however, said it was uncertain if this would be possible since the budget was already late in coming.

He said the budget was due in the National Assembly in November, adding that the legislature would do its best to see that the 2012 budget was passed in good time.

“Actually one significant thing is that the President expressed his desire for us to keep strictly to our budget cycle of January to December and then no longer take the budget beyond that. Well, the delay has already happened so I think that we will cope within the mechanism that is already on ground,” he said.

-Vanguardwp_posts