Mark and Bankole to buy official residences

By Elor Nkereuwem and Idris Akinbajo
December 5, 2010 02:23PM   


On Tuesday, November 30, 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan approved the sale of the official residences of the presiding officers of the National Assembly. The Senate President, the Deputy Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, have all been given leave to purchase their current living quarters, presidency sources told NEXT over the weekend.

The 2011 Appropriation Bill, which is yet to be brought to public notice, has already made N1.5 billion available for the construction of replacements for the yet-to-be sold properties.

Till date, the presiding officers of the Assembly have not enjoyed the monetisation policy put in place by President Olusegun Obasanjo which would have entitled them to reside in their private homes and thus receive accommodation allowances as other legislators do. Rather, the federal government provides official residences for the four officials. Human Rights lawyers however say that it is a contradiction for the federal government to allow presiding officers benefit from the old policy and in the same vein spend public funds to replace those houses.

“You cannot in a seeming fitful adherence to the monetisation policy at the same time approve money for the construction of new houses. It is contradictory and does not make sense. This is abuse of office,” Jiti Ogunye, a Lagos based human rights attorney said.

Some legislators, who are offended by Mr. Jonathan’s actions, believe that the president is trying to garner a more robust support base ahead of the 2011 Elections in the light of recent divisions in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), on whose platform, President Jonathan hopes to run.

Ima Niboro, the spokesman of the president however denied any knowledge of such an approval for the sale of these houses to the lawmakers.

“I cannot confirm. You may have to speak to the FCT minister,” Mr. Niboro said in a text message.

Further enquiries at the Federal Capital Territory Administration indicated that the officials are not aware of the current deal between the presidency and the lawmakers.

“The president is desperate. You know, there are so many things that he wants from them so they are taking advantage of the situation,” a legislator, who spoke on condition of anonymity said to NEXT in Abuja.

Mr. Ogunye agrees with the legislator’s conclusions.

“Given the timing of the unholy gesture, I would be right to suggest that it is an attempt to curry support for the 2011 project. What is going on now is nothing but a grand abuse of office which to me is coming at the time when Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency is interfacing with caucuses in the National Assembly and begging for their support for his attempt to govern the country again,” he said.

Building new houses

Last week, the minister of finance, Olusegun Aganga, met with committee chairs in the Senate during which time many believe he shared with them details of the 2011 Appropriation Bill. Although the bill is yet to be read on the floor of the Senate, a copy of the document obtained by NEXT shows that provisions have been made for the building of new living quarters for the principal officers of the National Assembly.

This document also carries the signatures of the chairs of the Committee on Appropriation in the Senate and the House of Representatives, Iyiola Omisore and Ayoade Ademola respectively.

The bill indicates that N1.5 billion is the budget for the:

“Design and Construction of National Assembly Presiding Officers Residence (Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker and Deputy Speaker House of Reps).” Spokespersons for the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives however vehemently denied any knowledge of the move by their principals to purchase the said properties.

“Not to my knowledge. It is not possible now. If it is sold, where will the next person [speaker] stay? Will he stay under the bridge or in a hotel? It is not possible,” Musa Ebomhiana, the chief press secretary to the speaker of the House of Representatives, said.

“I’m not aware about bidding. I’m not aware of any approval by President Jonathan. I’m not aware at all,” Kola Ologbodiyan, the spokesman of the Senate President said.

Controversial spending

This is not the first time that public spending on the residences of the NASS officials has raised questions.

The first public uproar came in 2007 when the House of Representatives, under the leadership of Patricia Etteh, awarded contracts to the tune of N628 million for the renovation of her house and her deputy’s.

The controversy led to her resignation later in the year. In 2008, the federal government approved a total ofN200 million to be spent in renovating the residences. The officials only recently moved back into their official residencies after the massive renovations that were carried out.

Mr. Ogunye says that it is irresponsible of the government to keep making a fuss of the residences of the lawmakers.

“We are talking about a government that is not building roads. So what then is the case of perpetually renovating, building and selling of legislative quarters?” he said.

Just another largesse

Should the sale of the houses be made to the leaders of both chambers of the Assembly, it will be an extra largesse for them.

Mr. Mark, who became the Senate president in 2007, has been a Senator since 1999. He, alongside other serving legislators between 2003 and 2007, benefitted from the sale of the Apo legislative quarters, residence to the legislators. Same for Mr. Bankole who was also a member of the House of Representatives when the Apo quarter houses were sold to serving federal lawmakers. Mr. Bankole lived in his Apo quarters house until early this year when he moved to his official- now to be bought- residence.

“These national assembly leaders apart from owning houses in Apo quarters also own property in choice areas in Abuja. Why then would the President want to give them largesse now,” a visibly angry former lawmaker, who benefitted from the sale of the Apo quarters said.

Need to work together

The decision by President Jonathan to sell these houses to the presiding officers may also not be unconnected with the need for all of them to work together in order to benefit from the PDP zoning arrangement.

Except President Jonathan returns as President in 2011, there is hardly any chance that either of the four house leaders will remain in his position. As it currently stands, Mr. Jonathan is from the South South; the Vice President, Namadi Sambo is from the North West; Mr. Mark is from the North central; his deputy Ike Ekweremadu is from the South East; and Mr. Bankole is from the South West.

By implication, should the PDP ticket be secured by a northern aspirant, who may go ahead to win the general elections, both Mr. Mark and Mr. Bankole, if they return to the national assembly, may lose their leadership positions. While Mr. Mark has signified his intention to return to the senate, his House of Representatives counterpart is yet to declare if he will return to the house or contest for the Ogun State governorship election.

Both Eseme Eyiboh, the spokesman of the house of Representatives; and Ayogu Eze, the Senate spokesman declined to pick their calls or respond to text messages.


http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5649840-146/mark_and_bankole_to_buy_official.csp

Jonathan would sell his grandmother if possible, just to get power.

The sooner we kick this desperate man out of Aso Rock, the better for us. What a shame, a PhD holder as President and still we see such brainless moves.

goodluck to GEJ. Hardluck to Nigerians, as usual
breath DELUSION of fresh air

what a waste of our national wealth

anybody that thinks GEJ will make this country better is sick mentally, goodluck will make nigerians cry more, the tears will be never like before believe me.people will wish that it was IBB that is president.

Why do they always have to sell official properties as if nigeria ends with their end of tenure in office?Where are the nest officials that are going to take their positions inhabit?

These people are gangsters playing on nigerians placid and gullible nature.

Aren't these "leaders" supposed to purchase the houses with their own money? Do we know whether they will pay a lot less than the N1.5billion it will cost the government to build the houses? What am I missing here?

ndu_chucks:

Aren't these "leaders" supposed to purchase the houses with their own money? Do we know whether they will pay a lot less than the N1.5billion it will cost the government to build the houses? What am I missing here?

Why are they even allowed to purchase the houses in the first place?
Next thing even Vice Chancellors and Governors go dey purchase their official residence.

Ken Nnamani lived in his   three-bedroom apartment  when he was the senate president and his tenure was more vivacious than what we have now.

There is no reason why NASS members should have official residences all paid up by govt, only to take home further mammoth salaries and bonuses. Let them pay for their own lodging.

I have been telling this forum that Jonathan is a very desperate man for a long time. He is "more of the same" i.e another clueless and corrupt leader who wan'ts power for the sake of it and not because he genuinely wants to be the change Nigeria needs. I am glad , with every single action , that Jonathan is acting as I predicted. As a very poor leader ,with no history or sagacity, Jonathan has no choice but to resort to bribing everyone. Monetary inducement is the only weapon Jonathan has because no one believes in his ability as a leader enough to back him voluntarily. Are we all not aware that it is the 'vultures' who have ruined Nigeria that have been quick to "endorse" Jonathan? You will not find one single unilaterally respected Nigerian behind Jonathan . That should speak volume to Nigerians.

I must emphasis that it is complete madness to expect anything good to come out of PDP expect you are "Beaf". What we seeing the determination of an individual to hang to power by any means and only just last week we were made aware of the fact that the Senate and Rep house cost a whopping 25% of the entire non capital expenses of Nigeria yearly. Jonathan is a failure and allowing him to stay in government will be another wasted 4 years.

^
If you you like, cuss until the World ends. Can you name any sensible country were members of paliarment have official houses?
If the NASS costs us 25% of recurrent expenditure, why should we add costs for official homes to that? Your argument is self defeating.

So far nigeria as a country has demonstrated that she is not capable of ruling her self.What we have in nigeria as a government is gangsterism where those that manages to manipulates their way into positions of power oppress those that are not in power.

Jonathan should blame himself for his problem. If he had corrected the satellite pictures, JOnathan would not be desperate now.  Kogi state show the Yorubas are the majority too. Not igalla. And how can Jonathan determine he would fight majority  and win.


He refuse to correct the error made, and he would suffer at the point. PDP would not win a single seat in Yorubaland come 2011.   He can go and find vote in empty desert.

Jonathan  what do you see in the north  in this picture. Empty desert.  Jonathan may become the next miracle worker.

HE would make sand become human.

Jonathan why did you do this to yourself.  you have up till december 31 to fix it.

one by one, they rig the election in the north.

The news gets desperately depressing everyday. I don tire.

blacksta:

I must emphasis that it is complete madness to expect anything good to come out of PDP expect you are "Beaf".  What we seeing the determination of an individual to hang to power by any means and only just last week we were made aware of the fact that the Senate and Rep house cost a whopping 25% of the entire non capital expenses of Nigeria yearly.   Jonathan is a failure and allowing him to stay in government will be another wasted 4 years.

My brother, with all we are seeing daily, I am truly shocked that any sane Nigerian can come here and hold brief for Jonathan !!! Perhaps it is true that we deserve the leaders we get because it seems many of us are as morally bankrupt as the leaders we lampoon daily !!!! This man is a total disaster !!! What more must he do before Nigerians , considering the very dangerous and precipitous condition our nation is in, conclude that we can do far better than this opportunist who never prepared to lead Nigeria?

All those who do not mean Nigeria and its average citizens well are solidly behind Jonathan. Needless to say that this is the classic formula that has ruined Nigeria i.e unscrupulous stooge leader always enjoy the support of the looters and misrulers who need a poor and unprincipled Presidency for their continued existence and bloated self-aggrandrizement at the expense of Nigeria's development.  Are we not tired of accidental leaders and usurpers who have decimated four decades of our post indepedence national existence while making poverty the lot of most Nigerians? I have lost count of Jonathan's many display of extremely poor leadership . I am extremely saddened to note , beyond rhetoric, that we are still a nation with a serious problem of ethnic bigotry. Otherwise Nigerians by now , with all we have seen allied with the type of leadership our nation urgently needs, should be totally united in unanimously rejecting this extremely poor President.

compare that house to this house. in the south.

[img]http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSTyjEMJvvrSfgfHpX0WZhGszcGCMof-sw6werYBm-TPJiysn4n-g[/img]

Chase the Hooligans-in-Power (HiPs) out and vote in better candidates.

Remember to RSVP -

Register;
Select and sponsor(your candidates);
Vote;
Protect your votes;

Let this be our motto for this election period.
Copy and text the motto to as many as possible on your GSM and several times during the voter registration period.
One Man, One Vote!!!

Everybody is telling the north to cut edo,delta,bayelsa and yoruba comot, una no get sense.  can 10 people sleep inside those houses.


David mark can not be senate president after 2011 since , jonathan is president. Why is david still the senate president. ?

more

Just when I thought Becomrich had given us a breather with the maps, well, here they are again.

what is this story?

Since the time of OBJ and El Rufai, legislators have been buying the houses the live in. Does this not show many of you lack knowledge about what goes on in Nigeria? What is this story for?


OBJ - THIEF

YARADUA - SLOW AND THIEF

JONATHAN - THIEF


SO, WHO?

PDP in General are ALL thieves!

Waiting for Facebook post, to come and try use to deceive us again

anonimi:

Chase the Hooligans-in-Power (HiPs) out and vote in better candidates.

Remember to RSVP -

Register;
Select and sponsor(your candidates);
Vote;
Protect your votes;

Let this be our motto for this election period.
Copy and text the motto to as many as possible on your GSM and several times during the voter registration period.
One Man, One Vote!!!

I'd much rather we campaigned on Pushing out PDP instead of exhorting people just to vote. Many of these people will only end up voting for the multi-headed hydra that is PDP.

texazzpete:

I'd much rather we campaigned on Pushing out PDP instead of exhorting people just to vote. Many of these people will only end up voting for the multi-headed hydra that is PDP.

The whole lot of them are thieves.

Was it not a few days ago, the Lagos State Assembly awarded each member a car bonus.

Jonathan is disappointing. . . his actions, steps and policies are selfish and aimed at a seat in the Presidential villa come 2011. . .only a foo! will vote him in

hang em all i say!

violent:

Jonathan is disappointing. . . his actions, steps and policies are selfish and aimed at a seat in the Presidential villa come 2011. . .only a foo! will vote him in

hang em all i say!

You sure live by your NL name! But to think of it, those guys including this ever indulging president should all be made to face the wrath of the law when we eventually send them back to their villages.

Why all these blame on jonathan, the statusquo exist before he came there so please fight the roots cause of the problem and not the symptom.

You guys are missing the point if you think goodluck is your enemy and the problem we have in nigeria, i am sure people will start blaming him for PHCN woes.

Why all these blame on jonathan, the statusquo exist before he came there so please fight the roots cause of the problem and not the symptom

what's the use of having a president who is too fragile challenge the status quo? Perhaps Mr President is afraid of the powers Bankole and Mr Mark wields and will happily lick their árses just to secure the PDP presidential ticket?

[You guys are missing the point if you think goodluck is your enemy and the problem we have in nigeria, i am sure people will start blaming him for PHCN woes./quote]

Nope, he's not the problem, and neither does he have a clue on how to address the problem. . .to lead Nigeria, you need balls of steel, and clearly Jonathan is a p****