By BEN AGANDE & EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

ABUJA-The relative peace enjoyed by the House of Representatives since its inauguration last year was threatened yesterday as some members from Kano State staged a walk-out, following the adoption of a motion inviting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, to explain where the apex bank derived its powers to make monetary donations for infrastructural projects, emergency reliefs and other philanthropic gestures.

The timely intervention of the Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, and the intervention of the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, however, saved what would have been a clear division of the House along regional/religious lines.

Sanusi Lamido

A few members of the Kano Caucus, led by Aminu Suleiman, had staged a walk-out to protest what he described as the speaker’s unfair allocation of time to proponents of the anti-Sanusi motion without commensurate time to those opposed to the motion.

Trouble started when Uzo Azubuike, (PDP Abia), in a motion, titled ‘Misuse of Public Funds by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Need to urgently establish a pool of fund for the provision of Relief to Victims of Natural Disaster and some unspecified crimes,” accused the CBN governor of misusing public funds by embarking on functions clearly outside its mandate.

According to him, the CBN recently released N100 million donations for the building of a bridge in University of Benin as well as N200 million to victims of bomb attacks at Madalla and Kano, in addition to the release of N650 billion from public funds to distressed banks.

He noted that the practice of the Central Bank of Nigeria of diverting and misusing public funds did not only constitute usurpation of the functions of other agencies of government, but was also inherently unlawful.

He added that if not called to order, the Central Bank governor would in future lose focus in the actualisation of the mandate of the bank.

Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, also warned that the excesses and runaway funding of projects by CBN would have to determine whether the bank was greater than the Federal Government.

As the motion enjoyed more support, a member of the House from Kano State, Bashir Babale, was seen moving from one seat to another, apparently to mobilise members against the passage of the motion.

But as the speaker put the question and the motion was overwhelmingly adopted, one of those opposed to it, Aminu Suleiman, raising a point of order, noted that the speaker did not allow those who were opposed to the motion enough time to air their views.

“When proponents of the motion spoke, we should have been allowed to speak, even if we are in the minority,” he told the speaker angrily.

But Tambuwal, who appeared to be taken aback by the insinuation of bias, told Suleiman that he could not have been opposed to the motion when he stridently raised his hand to indicate a willingness to speak for the motion while the debate lasted.

He told those who were dissatisfied with his ruling to explore the house rule for it to revisit the motion.
Not satisfied with the speaker’s explanation, Bashir Babale, who had threatened to slap one of the supporters of the motion, led other members from Kano State to stage a walk out.