2 weeks Ago By danivert
From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti The Spokesperson of the Senate, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, has said that despite approving the declaration of state of emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu, the National Assembly added some clauses outside what the President brought to the Assembly. googletag.cmd.
push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1718806029429-0'); }); According to him, the clauses were included to reduce the six-month period of the emergency rule, noting that Nigerians are not even talking about the additional clauses. $(document).
ready(function(){(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({})}); The Senate Spokesperson alsodispelled the notion that the 10th National Assembly under Senator Godswill Akapbio, is a rubber stamp to the executive arm.
of government. $(document).ready(function(){(adsbygoogle = window.
adsbygoogle || []).push({})}); Adaramodu, representing Ekiti South Senatorial District at the National Assembly made these known when he was responding to questions from newsmen at the weekend in his home town, Ilawe-Ekiti, Ekiti State. Speaking on the state of emergency declared in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu, Adaramodu said,” I might not even want to talk about it because it is already a matter for litigation but just the few areas that concern the legislature.
It is very unfortunate that in Nigeria everybody wants to interprete the rules and even the constitution the way he or she likes. I said 200 million Nigerians, 200 million interpretations of the constitution. Everybody is a lawmaker in Nigeria, everybody is a lawyer, everybody is a judge.
If a judge gives judgement elsewhere, everybody will say this is how the judge should have given it. If the lawmakers make any law everybody will say this is how the lawmakers should have made it, that is the same way they are even interpreting our standing orders and rules for us. $(document).
ready(function(){(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({})}); ” There are rules, there are standing orders, section 60 of the constitution has given it expressly that the Senate and the House of Representatives are going to make rules and laws that will guide their activities internally because it is not a House of babel, it is not an animal farm, so, we have guidelines and the guidelines are that, even in the constitution outside the 305 section that stipulates that there could be emergency rule in any part of Nigeria, now if there is imminent danger that can jeopardise the peace and the smooth running of the country which will be determined by the president and then it is not absolute, why it is not absolute is that it will still come to the National Assembly to consider and then the National Assembly constitutionally is given only 48 hours, two days, to look at it, to consider it and then there are other prescriptions, and what are the prescriptions? The prescriptions are:; when a state of emergency is declared and when it is going to be considered straight it must be through closed section because it is a security matter that you cannot just be debating, that you cannot just open to the world, for everybody to just be either interpreting or misinterpreting.
$(document).ready(function(){(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).
push({})}); ” It is there that it has to be debated in a closed section and then after that closed section when you look at our order 134, 135, 136, it stipulates that anything that you have agreed upon which you have debated exhaustively at the closed section you cannot bring it to the plenary and be discussing it and be debating it again but people who do not know the rules and the laws and the orders, they will be interpreting it and they will be talking about it the way they think, they feel it should be, that is their own personal feeling. Personal feeling is not law, personal feeling is not statute. “So, on that day, it was brought, we took it to the closed section as stipulated by the laws and the rules after exhaustively debating it.
It doesn’t mean that everybody must support it, even if it was not state of emergency, if they want to give sugar and milk to every Nigerian, if we are debating it, it doesn’t mean that everybody will support it, one or two will say why are we not giving biscuits instead of milk? $(document).ready(function(){(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).
push({})}); “So, definitely, when we got in there we debated exhaustively and we all agreed there at the closed section that we are supporting it and we are now increasing the clauses that we put there which is outside what the president brought like saying, it may not last six months, If there is feeling that the atmosphere is conducive, two, that the sole administrator will not only be reporting to the presidency, that the National Assembly shall continually and continuously adjudicate and do oversight functions over the sole administration in Rivers State, meaning that, since we are the ones who made laws of appropriation, then that appropriation must be supervised by us. $(document).ready(function(){(adsbygoogle = window.
adsbygoogle || []).push({})}); “Also, it was there that eminent Nigerians should be set up in form of a committee that will bring all the warring factions together and adjudicate and try to mediate and arbitrate among them and then bring them to peace and then make a report to the presidency and to the National Assembly and then the thing will be called off and then normalcy will prevail. Those were other areas that people are not even talking about that the National Assembly put there.
Three extra, additional clauses that people are not even talking about we put them there. “And during the issue of voting, it is when you now were in the closed section and there was no agreement that you will now come out and start counting 1,2,3,4,5 6 and on that day, like in the Senate, we were supposed to be 109 but three were not naturally present. One is on suspension, that is Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, number two is dead, that was Senator Ifeanyi Uba, and the third, Senator Monday Okpebholo, who is now the Governor of Edo State, so we had only 106, so, our two/third will now be 70 and 74 came.
We have a register, nobody is disputing it. No Senator has ever come out and say that that register did not meet up to 74 or meet up to 70. 74 Senators came, when we came and we had a closed section and we all agreed, then, what is the purpose of us carrying coals to Newcastle in an open plenary? And then when the question was put finally, those in support say hi, everybody said hi.
Those against say nay, nobody said nay , it means that if the 74 had been raising up hands and you did not say nay even when you say nay you will still not be identified as the voice of the nay, even if you want to hide because you will not mention your name with the nay. Because the problem we are facing in Nigeria is that whatever the government does is not perfect, is not good, everything we play politics. $(document).
ready(function(){(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({})}); ” Those people, during PDP, there were more than three states of emergency.
Somebody was a vice president then that person did not resign, the same person is now talking about state of emergency years after, that it is an aberration, it is unconstitutional. It was constitutional then. It is the same constitution that we have been running since then.
Some people even said they did emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states then the governors were performing. Were they given allocation? 18 months, were they given their statutory allocation? No! And not only that what caused the state of emergency then was not a common pance of the actions of the executive and the legislature there, it was Boko Haram. And nobody told us that any of the governors then was a Boko Haram commander.
So, why will you punish them for what they did not cause? $(document).ready(function(){(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).
push({})}); “But in the case of Rivers State the problem was caused by the governor and the House of Assembly. So, it means that there was no governance in that state. And moreover, is Rivers State not under sole administration before even under Fubara when the House of Assembly could not seat? When you have an House of Assembly of 32 members and only three people were making laws.
Now, the other constituencies did they not vote for their own representatives? Did they not send their own representatives to Rivers State House of Assembly? Who had been their voice there? Nobody! So, if Fubara could deny those people access to represention, so, it was right to deny them, but when Fubara is now apprehended, so that is when it is wrong. So, it means that Rivers State had been under civilian sole administrator, because how can you do appropriation with only three members out of 32 and you are spending the money of the state? And so, a sole administrator is now brought in, it has been a continuation of sole administratorship. But be that as it may, like I said, I can only talk about the roles of the legislature, because it is already a matter for litigation.
But our own rules, those are our rules and we did not bend our rules, we did not contradict our rules and then we did what we should do.” Responding to the perception of some Nigerians that the 10th National Assembly is a rubber stamp to the executive, Adaramodu said, “What is the meaning of rubber stamp? Does it mean that if the executive brings appropriation bill which is budget because we don’t want to be called rubber stamp we should oppose it and throw it away? Does it mean that if the federal government wants to tar road, because we don’t want to be called rubber stamp we should throw it away? Does it mean that if the federal government is increasing allocation to the judiciary because we don’t want to be called rubber stamp we should throw it away? Does it mean that if the federal government is giving minimum wage because we don’t want to be called rubber stamp we then throw it away?. So, what is the meaning of rubber stamping? $(document).
ready(function(){(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({})}); “Now, one thing is this, we are not in the Senate with gloves in our hands to go and be knocking, and be beating and be fighting the executive or other arms of government.
That is not our calling. Our calling is that we are partners in progress and while we are partners in progress we make laws, to execute is in the hands of the executive, to interprete is in the hands of the judiciary. We will not be making laws at the same time be interpreting it and be executing it.
So, once we make our laws, what are the laws that we have made that have shown the Senate or the House of Representatives as an entity that is not focused? I have never seen any. We have established schools, higher institutions for that matter, we have done appropriation, we have done tax bills even the tax bills thing many people who were criticising initially are those people saying the same thing anymore? Because people did not even see the tax bills before they started criticising and we know that even biblically when we say tax everybody will just raise high brows. $(document).
ready(function(){(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({})}); “So, when the tax bills came so many people said so many things against it without seeing the contents of the bills brought by the executives.
And we opened it up, we told the federal government to go and do more stakeholders consultation which they did even before we continued with the bill we have opened up, making sure there is a bilateral consultative committee between the executive and that of the legislature to look at it and bring in more options, more views about it. and solicit for suggestions and so on which they did and by the time it was brought to us for second reading whereby it was taking to the committee on finance where and which we will now constitute public hearing. The public hearing was held, various stakeholders came there, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) came there, Non Governmental Organisations( NGO) came there, various sectors of Nigeria came there, they aired their own views then we aggregated it, so the aggregate of it that we are now deliberating on, which we are going to pass as the third reading stage of the tax reform bills, does that make us rubber stamp? “When the federal government wanted to give palliatives to Nigerians and then we approved through appropriation, does that make us rubber stamp? The removal of the fuel subsidy, it is not the business of the House of Representatives or National Assembly to fix petroleum prices.
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push({})}); The post Despite supporting President on Rivers, NASS added clauses to reduce the six-month emergency rule – Spokesperson, Adaramodu appeared first on The Sun Nigeria..
