By Rotimi Durojaiye (Lagos) Adetutu Folasade-Koyi and Otei Oham (Abuja)

Bickering in the legislature over the venue for the presentation of the 2010 Appropriation Bill is likely to prevent President Umaru Yar’Adua from appearing before a joint session of the National Assembly (NASS) today.

Senate President, David Mark, wants the presentation done in the Senate, House of Representatives Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, prefers the House.

A source in Aso Rock disclosed on Wednesday that Yar’Adua has sent a letter to both of them that he would send in the Bill without making a personal appearance.

Bankole’s stand was buttressed on the day by House Media and Public Affairs Committee Chairman, Eseme Eyiboh, who said: “Traditionally it has always been in the House of Representatives, and that tradition is usually informed by the convenience of space and logistics.

“The 360 members in the House, 109 Senators, (Yar’Adua) and his entourage, Governors, chieftains of political parties, captains of industry, and members of diplomatic corps are coming.

“So when I am talking about the convenience of logistics and space, it’s the tradition that the House provides that space to accommodate that audience. The Senate has the capacity to accommodate less than 150.”

Even with that, the Senate, breaking with tradition, wants to receive Yar’Adua in the Red Chamber, whereas the practice is for the President to present the budget in the House.

Senators have since 1999 moved across the lobby to the House to receive the Presidential address on Appropriation Bills.

However, since the inauguration of the Sixth National Assembly two years ago, a frosty relationship has existed between Mark and Bankole, which has escalated during this Constitution review.

Forty four House members on the Joint Committee on Constitution Review (JCCR) walked out of a retreat in Minna on January 17 because Deputy Speaker, Usman Nafada, was not given the title of JCCR Co-chairman.

Senators stood their ground that the nomenclature is not in the Constitution – and, in the end, each Chamber embarked on a solo run in the review.

Yar’Adua had earlier written to Mark, the NASS Chairman, on his desire to address a joint session of the NASS today.

Since 2007, the Senate and the House have concurred only on money Bills, specifically Appropriation Bills.

The House has 28 Bills awaiting concurrence with the Senate while the Senate has 12 gathering dust on its shelf, awaiting concurrence, and Yar’Adua’s assent.

His request to present the Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the NASS is based on Section 81 (1) of the Constitution.

The Section states that, “The President shall cause to be prepared and laid before each House of the National Assembly, at any time, in each financial year, estimates of the revenue and expenditure of the federation of the next following financial year.”

His letter of November 3 reads: “In compliance with Section 81 (1) of the Constitution, I crave the indulgence of the National Assembly to grant me the slot of 11:00 a.m. on (November 19) to formally address the joint session of the National Assembly on budget 2010.”

Yar’Adua may meet a divided legislature if he wants to make the presentation in person.

A Senator said on Wednesday that the decision to receive Yar’Adua “has already been conveyed to Aso Rock. He is coming straight to the Red Chamber.

“In a situation where, owing to lack of space, we may have to relocate to the Green Chamber, Bankole would not sit with Mark on the dais.

“That is how it has been in the past but this is the time to correct the anomaly. We are relying on Section 53 of the Constitution which states that in any joint sitting, the President of the Senate would preside.

“There is no provision for Bankole to sit beside the Senate President when he is physically present to preside over a joint session.”

Senate Spokesman, Ayogu Eze, reiterated that the Senate Chamber is large enough to accommodate all lawmakers, and that Mark consulted all stakeholders before taking the decision.

Said Eze: “You are aware that (Yar’Adua) is coming to present a budget to the joint session tomorrow (today), and you are equally aware that it is the prerogative of the Chairman of the (NASS) to decide the venue of the joint session.

“This year, he has decided that the joint session will take place in the Red Chamber, and all the relevant authorities have been duly notified, (including) the leadership of the House and the (NASS) leadership – including the Clerk of the (NASS) and the management.

“Every arrangement is being put in place to ensure that (Yar’Adua) makes a hitch-free presentation of the 2010 Appropriation Bill.

“The Red Chamber is enough to accommodate everybody. We have enough seats in the Chamber to take every body. The issue of venue is not a big deal because it is the prerogative of the Chairman of the (NASS) to decide the venue.

“He can even decide that we go to the banquet hall of the House of Representatives to hold the session, and his decision that the thing should hold here this year does not mean that next year it cannot go to any other venue, provided that it is within the (NASS) complex.

“I don’t see any reason why anybody will not come. I don’t know why we bother ourselves with logistics. The issue of logistics is the prerogative of the NASS management. They will sought out the seating arrangement.”

Eze counselled that lawmakers should not spend time speculating on something not in their purview, what is important is that in taking the decision, Mark consulted with all the stakeholders.

He said the decision to hold the joint session in the Senate Chamber has nothing to do with any frosty relationship between Mark and Bankole.

“In any case, I am not even aware that there is any frosty relationship in the leadership. There is no such thing.”

In anywhere where presidential system of govt is practised,the senate is the upper house while the house of reps is the lower, So why this ego tussle between mark and bankole