By Richard Ihediwa
With the stalemate between the labour fronts and the Federal Government, it has become clear that the National Assembly holds the ace on efforts to finding solution for the crisis.
This is because the Constitution has empowered the two chambers of the National Assembly to make appropriations for the utilisation of the resources accruable to the Federal Government.
In empowering the National Assembly to control spending from the federation account, section 88 of the Constitution provides that “(1) All revenues or other moneys raised or received by the Federation (not being revenues or other moneys payable under this Constitution or any Act of the National Assembly into any other public fund of the Federation established for a specific purpose) shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
“(2) No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation except to meet expenditure that is charged upon the fund by this Constitution or where the issue of those moneys has been authorised by an Appropriation Act, Supplementary Appropriation Act or an Act passed in pursuance of section 81 of this Constitution. “(3) No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unless the issue of those moneys has been authorised by an Act of the National Assembly.
“(4) No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly.”
It is based on this constitutional provision that the National Assembly opened debates on whether or not to include the subvention in the 2012 budget.
Already, the matter had since divided the National Assembly as lawmakers disagreed on the removal of subsidy in the 2012 budget with the majority of them rejecting the policy during the debates on the general principles of the budget.
The matter first hit the National Assembly in October, 2011, when President Goodluck Jonathan in his 2012-2015 Medium Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF) and the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) presented to the two chambers of the National Assembly in October announced his decision to exclude the subsidy in the 2012 budget and promised that the savings will be put in the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) and used for infrastructural development.
The President made good his position when in December 2011, he presented the budget without any provision for the subvention.
Majority of the lawmakers in the two chambers kicked against the exclusion with many of them calling for its inclusion before the passage of the budget.
Apparently to ensure that the subsidy remains until the passage of the budget this year, the two chambers of the National Assembly approved the request by the President for the extension of the implementation of the 2011 budget which has provision for subsidy until March this year.
As the National Assembly set to reopen plenary with the House scheduling an emergency session on Sunday, it has been inundated with call by interest group, which have mounted pressure on it to include the subsidy in the budget and sanction the President if he refuses to sign it into law.
However, with the removal of the subvention on January 1, most lawmakers now feel slighted as they note that the debate was still on-going especially as the economic team had assured that the subvention stays until March.
Currently, the leadership of the National Assembly has been meeting so as to arrive at a common position on the matter ahead of resumption of plenary. However, there are indications that the National Assembly will take a decisive step in favour of the popular demand, though the step is not clear yet.
Currently, there are moves in the House of Representatives to restore the subsidy and to scrap the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). Deputy Majority Leader of the House, Suleiman Sumaila Kawu who stated this on Thursday said the House has obtained no fewer than 200 signatures from his colleagues to ensure that the agency is scrapped and that the subsidy is restored.
In the Senate, there is anger as some lawmakers insisted that they have been betrayed by the Presidency.
Reacting to the development, Senate Spokesman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe dissociated the Senate from the policy saying it is yet to take decision on the issue. According to Abaribe, “the Senate is yet to take a final decision on the issue. While it is true that there was no provision for subsidy in the 2012 budget proposal, the Senate still believes that consultation is still going on, which means the Senate is yet to reach a consensus on the matter.”
Also reacting to the matter, Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi representing Ekiti North Senatorial District said the action which was taken without recourse to the National Assembly was an affront to its collective mandate as the representatives of the people adding that unilateral decision runs against the grains of inclusive and representative democracy.
The lawmaker said the removal of the subsidy despite wide spread public opposition smacks of executive arrogance in total disregard of the feelings of the people especially against the background of the promises by the administration that the subvention stays until April, 2012.
The statement reads, “The exclusion of the National Assembly from this far-reaching economic decision when the 2012 budget is still under consideration represents poor political judgment on the part of the President and his Advisors. This unilateral decision runs against the grains of inclusive and representative democracy. It smacks of executive arrogance in total disregard of the feelings of the people.
On the whole, there are indications that the two chambers of the National Assembly will close ranks and find solution to the crisis before it gets out of hands.
There are several options before the National Assembly. Some stakeholders believe that the National Assembly should respond to the demands of the people by either getting Jonathan to reverse the policy or use its powers to cause the implementation of the subsidy as contained in the 2011 budget.
