By Ehichioya Ezomon
The power to spend any funds of the government is predicated on the mandatory approval of the National Assembly, as spelt out specifically in Sections 80 and 81 of the amended 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, and its non-observance is a breach of the right of the legislature to control expenditure.
But as sacrosanct as these extant provisions of the constitution are, the lawmakers should exercise great restraint in calling for the impeachment of a violator, in this case, President Muhammadu Buhari, for expending $496 ($462) million on 12 super Tucano jets, without the express permission of the National Assembly.
What’s at issue here is procedure: the non-observance of the process of obtaining approval for the withdrawal of the $496 million, which payment had been confirmed by the government of the United States of America, which supplies the planes to Nigeria.
But for the astuteness, and display of maturity by the leadership of both chambers of the National Assembly, and the level-headedness exhibited by the majority All Progressives Congress members, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party legislators were (are) bent in the past week to push through the impeachment moves.
The level and intensity of the debate almost indicated that the solution to herdsmen’s bloodletting in the North Central, and the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East was “immediate” impeachment of President Buhari.
They didn’t buy his explanation precedent on the approval for withdrawal of the $496 million from the Excess Crude Account (ECA), to purchase the aircraft from the United States government, which “had given a payment deadline; otherwise, the contract would lapse.”
They seemed principally concerned with the process of the aircraft purchase, and the purchaser, President Buhari, and not the need for the equipment to fight insecurity, which they (lawmakers) shouted about, and criticized on weekly basis at the plenary.
The hullabaloo began on Tuesday, April 24, in the House of Representatives, when the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, read a letter by President Buhari, explaining the circumstances of the purchase of the planes, and for the House to include the $496 million in the 2018 budget estimates still in the works in the legislature.
Dogara had hardly finished when hell was let loose by members of the PDP, who were arrow-headed by Mr. Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers ) and Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, who called for the immediate impeachment of President Buhari.
While Speaker Dogara tactically steered the House towards suspending, till another legislative day, the debate on the procurement of the jets; the “sanctioning” of Buhari gained traction in the Senate, where it was couched in a “motion for the invocation of Section 143(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution,” which deals with impeachment of the president if found “guilty of gross misconduct in the performance of the functions of his office.”
Senator Matthew Urhoghide (PDP, Edo South), supported by Senator Chukwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu North) moved the motion for “immediate impeachment” of the president, for “committing a very serious and grievous breach of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
But there were counter arguments by senators of the APC, who, though admitted the non-observance of the rules on expenditure, did not support impeachment of Buhari. Senator Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central), describing the expenditure as “a gross abuse of the constitution,” asked that “the money be refunded and the transaction started afresh to allow due process.”
Senator Abu Ibrahim (APC, Katsina South), not only recalled that former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan “made withdrawals from the ECA without seeking National Assembly’s approval,” but also labelled the floated impeachment of Buhari as “a PDP conspiracy.”
At this juncture, Senate President Bukola Saraki intervened, to return the debate to the essence and circumstances of the payments for the jets, and to avoid the chamber being divided along party lines, “and South versus North, for and against” the impeachment, as a senator labeled the fiery debate. Senate thereafter referred the matter to its judiciary committee, “for legal advice” this Wednesday.
By Thursday, both the Senate and House mandated their relevant committees to “look for precedents, search the archives, so we know where to accommodate the $496 million expenditure.”
May I respectfully advise the lawmakers to check the answer in Section 83 of the Constitution on “Contingencies Fund for the Federation,” which the National Assembly is obligated to establish, “for authorising the President, if satisfied that there has arisen an urgent and unforeseen need for expenditure for which no other provision exists, to make advances from the Fund to meet the need.”
If there’s such a fund, the president doesn’t need recourse to the National Assembly during emergencies, except to present a “Supplementary Estimate,” for which “a Supplementary Appropriation shall be introduced as soon as possible for the purpose of replacing the amount so advanced.”
All said, President Buhari did not offhandedly dismiss the role of the National Assembly in matters of appropriation; hence, he has asked the legislature to include the said sum in the 2018 budget estimates. Pushing for his impeachment would then connote political motivation, especially in regard to the 2019 elections, in which he has declared to contest for a second term in office.
* Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.