A battle line may have been drawn between the senate and the executive over the non- implementation of its resolutions. The lawmakers expressed displeasure over
the unwillingness of President Goodluck
Jonathan to implement resolutions reached by
the Senate particularly the recommendations
on the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE). At Thursday’s proceedings of the senate, Uche
Chukwumerijie (PDP Abia North), during debate
on a bill for an act to amend the public
enterprises act, threatened to move a motion
to impeach the president if he continues to
ignore the resolutions of the senate. “I have started collecting signatures. If we
could collect up to two third of this senate
here, we are going to get a motion that gives
marching order to Mr President to do
something about this report or else,” Mr
Chukwumerijie said. “We can’t continue at this level at which we
are going. This impunity in which they continue
looting public fund and nobody is saying
anything. We’ve come to the stage of
threatening impeachments. “Uche Chukwumerijie will do it and move the
motion,” the senator said. There was nothing to suggest at the
beginning of plenary that lawmakers would
vent their anger on the president over the
non-implementation of their resolutions. Ifeanyi Okowa from Delta had earlier led a
debate for the amendment of the BPE act. The bill seeks to amend the public enterprises
act to provide further legislative framework
for improved accountability in the sale of
government assets. “The amendment provides for not less than
five percent of the shares to be offered to
Nigerians to be reserved for the host
community of the public enterprises,” Mr
Okowa said while moving the motion for
amendment. The bill hit closely home for Ahmed Lawan
(ANPP, Yobe) whose committee’s had exposed
irregularities in the sale of government assets. The BPE report a product of the
investigations which was completed and
debated in November last year is yet to be
implemented by the presidency. “It is time that the BPE report, the resolutions
of the senate that has been passed to Mr
President for his action are considered
forthwith,” Mr Lawan said. Further worsening an already charged
situation are the remarks by the Minister of
Information, Labaran Maku who said
resolutions by the National Assembly are only
advisory. The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu
said the National Assembly does not need the
Minister to inform it that its decisions are not
binding. “I don’t we need the minister of information
or any other minister to remind us that our
resolutions are not binding just as we don’t
need to remind him that he was not elected,”
Mr Ekweremadu. He said thought the resolutions of the senate
are not binding but they are well thought of,
researched and made out of patriotism. Mr Ekweremadu said the resolutions are an
amalgamation of the views of very
responsible Nigerians and “to that extent it is
very persuasive.” With growing indignation against the
executive by the national assembly, it is not
clear what the next step of the presidency
would be. The executive needs to act swiftly before the
impasse with the national assembly gets out
of hand. Click the link for the video
www.channelstv.com/home/2012/09/20/senate-threatens-to-impeach-jonathan/