N’Assembly Mounts Pressure on Jonathan to Sign 2011 Budget

Posted by admin Goodluck Jonathan (2010-present), House, Legislature, Presidency, Senate Saturday, May 21st, 2011

INDICATION emerged yesterday that the leadership of the National Assembly is mounting pressure on President Goodluck Jonathan to assent to the 2011 Appropriation Bill despite the alleged injection of N500 billion into the budget by the House of Representatives.

A source in the Presidency who pleaded anonymity disclosed to The Guardian yesterday that the leadership of the National Assembly is mounting undue pressure on President Jonathan to assent to the bill before June 5, so that their members would get their entitlements before the expiration of their tenure.

Meanwhile, President Jonathan will on Monday flag-off activities leading to his inauguration for a fresh term of office on May 29, by meeting principal operators of Nigeria’s private sector in Lagos.

President Jonathan said in a meeting with the Special Adviser to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Prof Jeffrey Sachs that inputs and recommendations from participants at the session would be put to good use in the fine-tuning of government’s action plan for the next four years.

According to the President, “it (meeting with private sector leaders) will prepare us to hit the ground running after May 29.”

“The President is under pressure from the leadership of National Assembly to sign the budget before June 5. We are aware that most of the lawmakers are not returning and that is why they are eager to get all their monies before May 29. The way the leadership of both chambers is pressuring and lobbying the Presidency on the matter, it is seems that they need the allocation at all cost before May 29. They have even sought the assistance of the President’s close allies to plead on their behalf, arguing that they deserve to get all their monies before their term expires, considering the massive support and co-operation they have given the President especially during his election,” the source said.

On whether the Presidency was succumbing without clearing the disparities in the bill, the source disclosed that the President had not taken a position on the matter as he was still consulting and weighing options. The source said the President was worried and unhappy over the alleged injection of N500 billion into the Bill by the leadership of House.

The Guardian On Saturday investigation revealed that while the leadership of the National Assembly was pushing for the bill to be assented to before the expiration of their legislative term, incoming members led by those of them returning for a second term had reached out to the President, asking him to withhold assent to Bill till after their inauguration.

One of the returning members of the House of Representatives from the Southeast confirmed that they had made such moves to ensure that they did not face financial difficulties when they resumed for new House on June 6.

The member urged the anti-graft agency to close in on the leadership of the House and find out how they have managed the funds allocated to the House in the last four years. The lawmaker expressed concern that the loan of N10 billion was secured from a bank, whereas they got N156 billion budgetary allocation last year.

Also, one of the 11suspended members of House of Representatives who pleaded anonymity disclosed to The Guardian On Saturday yesterday that Speaker Dimeji Bankole reneged on his promise to source for fund ‘at all cost’ last Wednesday to pay their entitlements.

The member alleged that it was discovered that the sum of N500 billion and not N200 billion as reported by a national newspaper not (The Guardian) was illegally padded into the 2011 Appropriation Bill and that it had been the source of differences between the Presidency and the leadership of the House.

“With the ultimatum given to the Speaker to source for funds and pay us our entitlements which expired last Wednesday, the Speaker failed in his promise and refused to reconvene the House in time that day. He was in executive sessions for hours pleading with our colleagues for understanding and assuring them that the lapses would be taken care of in the 2011 Appropriation Bill if signed into law,” the member disclosed.

The member revealed further that the delay in assenting to the Bill by the President was not unconnected with inflated figures inserted in the bill by the leadership of the House. On what would happen if the President failed to assent to the bill before their term elapsed on June 5, the lawmaker said that they had no option than to take Bankole to court.

President Jonathan explained that the brainstorming session had been scheduled because he wanted his inaugural activities to include not just pomp and pageantry as usual, but also serious preparation for the successful implementation of his agenda for National Transformation.

The President told Sachs that he was fully committed to pursuing a multifaceted, integrated strategy for rapid national development that would yield significant benefits in public infrastructure, power supply, education, healthcare, job creation, poverty alleviation and other areas. “We must pursue an integrated approach. There is no way we can isolate any particular sector for attention, as they are all inter-related. If we do that, we will fail,” he said.

Remarking that he was always saddened by Nigeria’s current indices of human development especially in the area of public health, President Jonathan said he would pull out all stops to ensure that the country’s ranking on the Human Development Index rose significantly in the next four years.

Thanking Sachs for his continuing devotion to development in Nigeria, the President remarked that it was a very justifiable commitment since any progress in Nigeria would impact positively on the rest of Africa and the world.

“If Nigeria gets out of the woods, that is 20-25 percent of Africa out of the woods. We can carry other African countries along. If our economy improves, it will impact positively on the rest of the world,” he said.

Sachs congratulated President Jonathan on Nigeria’s recent elections, which he said the entire world was cheering.

He said with the successful elections, Nigeria was now at a positive juncture for the consolidation of democracy and rapid economic development, adding that the UN was very keen on supporting the Jonathan administration in any way that it could.

-Vanguardwp_posts