The
House of Representatives does not intend to issue a formal response to
the fresh label of ‘unarmed robbers’ pinned on federal legislators on Thursday
by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, it was learnt yesterday.
Obasanjo,speaking at a book
presentation in Ibadan on Thursday, had described the legislators as a
bunch of unarmed robbers because,as he said, “they are one of the
highest paid in the world where we have 70 per cent of our people living
in abject poverty.”
The House said yesterday that its response
to an earlier accusation in the heat of the budget padding
controversy in 2016 is sufficient for the latest accusation by the former
President. House spokesman Abdulrazaq Namdas, contacted by The
Nation said: “There is nothing to say because the House has
responded to the former President previously.
“The accusation this time is the same as
before, so there is nothing to add. Our position has not changed from what we
said in 2016.”
Besides, Namdas said that on a personal
basis ,he was not prepared to cross fire with Obasanjo in view of his age
and position as a former President.
His words:”He is an elder and in my
culture, you don’t respond to elders every time.
“You don’t banter words with your
elders.Having responded once and he accuses you again and again, what you do is
you keep quiet.
“Remember he is a former President and an
elder statesman. I will not say more than that.”
Several other lawmakers
contacted by The Nation also declined to respond,
saying that the former President has not said anything.
One of them who chose not to be named said:
“I will not like to respond to this allegation on the basis that he is an elder
and a statesman, but that does not validate his claim.
“I can only describe the accusation as
coming from people seeking relevance. Not that Obasanjo is seeking relevance,
but the fact remains that if anyone wants to be in the news, all you need do is
to hit members of the National Assembly.
“For instance, someone like former
President Ibrahim Babangida who has found a new love for restructuring. Why did
he not make it happen when he had all the opportunities in the world as the
head of the military government then?
“What did he do? Nothing! But it is now
convenient to shift the blame. You know we like playing the blame game in this
country.
“As such, I will rather not comment on it,
I will give him that respect, but that does not mean what he said is true.”
Another lawmaker seen by The
Nation as he left a committee meeting said: “In my
place, we don’t respond to elders like that . Moreover, Namdas has given the
position of the House. Thank you.”
A lawmaker from the North Central said the
former President should be allowed to express himself and enjoy it while it lasts.
“You know, he is an old man. Let him enjoy
himself.
“Responding to him will only spark an
unnecessary debate, and since he has a fixated mind about us, so be it’.
Namdas, in responding on November 24,
2016, to Obasanjo’s description of federal lawmakers as
corrupt at the height of budget padding controversy, called him a blackmailer,
acting as a lifetime opposition leader.
He said: “He ventured to accuse the
National Assembly of budget padding, accused the House of criminal activities
of threatening the life of a ‘whistleblower’, lampooned constituency projects
which he approved as President, ventured to discuss the budget of National
Assembly which is highly underfunded?
“The House of Representatives would
ordinarily not join issues with the former President as he has held an office
that deserves respect and reverence.
“However, because of the material
misstatement of facts, outright lies and falsehoods, and mischievous innuendo
introduced in his statement, we are left with no option but to correct him.”
Mr Namdas went on to address all issues
raised by the ex-President during the controversial lecture:
“We have repeatedly maintained that there
was no ‘padding’ of the 2016 Appropriation Act, which is a legitimate document
passed by the National Assembly, authenticated by the Clerk to the National
Assembly as provided in the Acts Authentication Act and assented to by Mr.
President…
“For the avoidance of doubt, there is no
crime that was committed by the National Assembly by exercising its
constitutional function of appropriation.
“If Chief Obasanjo has an issue with the
execution of the 2016 Budget or indeed other Appropriation Acts, he should
direct his anger elsewhere.
“He claimed that the National Assembly
Budget is very high, when by all standards, the National Assembly is grossly
underfunded and is hampered from effectively and legitimately carrying out its
constitutionally assigned functions. The National Assembly Budget funds a
bureaucracy of about 5,000 civil servants.
“It has some other agencies under its
preview such as the National Assembly Service Commission with its own staff of
about 500, even the Public Complaints Commission is now a parastatal of the
National Assembly.
“National Assembly Budget also funds the
National Institute for Legislative Studies, which is a legislative think-tank
and highly rated academic institution that serves both National and State
Houses of Assembly and even international legislators.
“All these agencies also have their capital
budget including development of their headquarters, procurement of office
equipment, procurement of regular items for running their offices; the National
Assembly maintains legislative aides of about 3,000 in number, that aid the
work of the Assembly; it also conducts regular public hearings involving the
media and stakeholders and oversight activities, involving huge sums of money.
“The cost implications of running the
National Assembly is high because of the nature of our Presidential democracy.
“Then, of course, there are 109 Senators
and 360 members of the House of Representatives that require proper equipment
to function effectively. They require adequate travel and transport support to
carry out legislative functions.
“The National Assembly also has buildings
and offices to build and maintain. National Assembly staff and members attend
conferences, trainings, seminars to keep abreast of legislative developments
worldwide. The activities are very encompassing and expensive.
“It is also unbecoming of a former
President to quote figures of sums of money that are factually incorrect. No
member of the House of Representatives receives N10m every month.
“The salaries and allowances of members of
the House are as determined by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal
Commission (RMAFC).
“Of course, further sums of money are spent
as running costs, that is, the cost of running the office of a member.
“If a Minister, Chief Executive or Director
in a Ministry travels on official duties, for instance, do you include the cost
of his ticket and accommodation as part of his salary or allowances?
“Does the cost of stationeries and
maintenance of equipment like computers used in their offices form part of
their salaries and allowances?
“These are some of the costs that must be
taken care of by the National Assembly and the media calls these costs “jumbo
pay”. For goodness sake, the National Assembly is an arm of government, not
just an ordinary agency of government.
“The budget of many agencies in the
Executive Branch are indeed higher than the current Budget of the National
Assembly that is an arm of government.
“Examples abound, CBN, NNPC, NCC etc.
Allowances paid to even junior staff of some of these government agencies
cannot be compared to what members of National Assembly enjoy.
“Undoubtedly, the former President Obasanjo
is understandably angry with the National Assembly as an institution having
foiled his ambition for a third-term in office even after trying to corrupt the
members with a bribe of at least N50m each.
“Lest we forget, the person who introduced
corruption to the National Assembly is Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
“He birthed the 4th Republic National
Assembly with corrupt practices from day one; indeed the first day of the
Republic. He bribed PDP, ANPP and AD legislators on their inauguration in 1999
to vote against the majority candidate of PDP, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo. That was how
Senator Evan Enwerem became Senate President.
“Have we forgotten the sacks of money
displayed on the floor of the House of Representatives being bribe money paid
by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to some Honourable members to impeach Speaker, Rt.
Hon. Ghali N’abba?
“Have we forgotten that Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo used his position as President to extort money from businessmen and
contractors with his government to build his presidential library?
“The list of his corrupt acts while in
office is endless. Unquestionably, he is the greatest corrupt person ever to
hold office in Nigeria.
“He remains the grandfather of corruption
in Nigeria and lacks the moral authority to discuss corruption or indeed abuse
of office in Nigeria as he remains the most corrupt Nigerian on record.
“It is unfortunate that he has started his
very familiar method of bringing down governments. He did it to Alhaji Shehu
Shagari, he did it to Gen. Buhari, he did same to Gen. Babangida, he attempted
to bring down Gen. Abacha before he imprisoned him for treason; he made frantic
efforts to derail the government of President Yar’Adua when he couldn’t use
him.
“He supported President Goodluck Jonathan,
but when he refused to take dictation, he turned against him. He supported
President Buhari, but since he has sensed that Nigeria is having economic
difficulties under him, he has pounced to derail his government.
“The way Chief Obasanjo talks gives the
impression that he is a lifetime opposition leader who has never held any
office. What did he do about the issues he raised in his 8 years as President?
“This is a man with unlimited access to
President Buhari. Or is it because he has not appointed all his cronies as
requested? We may never know. His stuck in trade is blackmail, subversion and
treachery.
“We wish him well.”
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