₦airaland Forum

lump in oil prices: A progressive way out (1)

Awash in the great tide of politics, we must not forget why politics can be a noble endeavour. It leads to governance. When done correctly, governance can reform a nation and improve the lot of the people. In the hands of the ignorant and the mean, governance casts abundant misfortune upon a nation and upon the welfare of its citizens.

This commentary concerns governance and policy more than it does politics. I offer it to generate debate on an important economic issue. No matter who is in power, we must do whatever is in our capacity to do to steer the nation away from economic woes. The people have suffered too much hardship already. Neither side of the political divide should seek to purchase transient advantage at the high price of dousing the people in greater economic calamity. Thus, I suggest this progressive position on how best to shape economic policy during this period of falling oil prices. I state this hoping those in charge will take pertinent advice from any quarter. My prayer is that they are not so stubborn as to adhere to a strategy that will deepen the economic misery of our people even when better policy measures are proffered.

I confess to writing this also for a reason essentially political but non-confrontational. It accentuates the distinction between the conservative Peoples Democratic Party and the progressive All Progressives Congress. The nation faces momentous elections when next year turns to its second month. The choice is a stark one; but many people do not believe as such. The differences are vast especially regarding economic policy. On the one side, the PDP champions a conservative, elitist economic model based on the theory that wealth money must first go to the already rich and well-heeled who shall determine how small a fraction of it will trickle down to the rest of society.

On the progressive side, we believe government can fillip economic growth and development in such a way that brings the fairness of prosperity to all of society. We don’t seek to penalise those who already have but we will do our utmost to remove from the clutch of poverty the bulk of our people. We seek to turn the hungry suffering of our poor and working classes into a dignified livelihood that provides a dignified existence for all.

Global oil prices have fallen from over $100 a barrel to approximately $80 per barrel. This slide has caused a corresponding drop in government’s dollar revenues. With this, the Federal Government claims it has less money at its disposal and the paucity of dollars necessitates austerity measures. Most people accept this position as gospel; debate about its correctness has been nil. Yet, the stakes are much too high to assume this subjective position as an economic certitude or uncritically accept its propriety. What they proclaim as policy is not based on any unassailable economic principle. It is statement of economic bias that beckons to the wealthy while auguring unnecessary hardship for most Nigerians.

Look at jobless and poverty levels as well as the diminished status of our middle class. After viewing these statistics, most objective economists would conclude Nigeria is mired in a long-term, secular depression. Forget the rosy GDP figures. They signify a great economic and financial segregation between those who have and others who have not. If we continue with the policy preferences of the current administration, the haves shall become the “have-mores” and the “have-nots” shall become the “have even less.”

The vast majority of the claimed GDP growth has fallen into the laps of those already enjoying obvious luxury. The rest of the people are left to gaze at the enormity of the income and wealth chasm separating them from the cabal orchestrating the discordant political economy. While a small group flourishes, the rest of the nation subsidises their economic bounty. A tight confederacy rides an economic skyrocket while the bulk of the people languish in the swamp. For one group, the economy is a effervescent. For the other, it is catatonic. Nigeria is one nation with two economies.

For this government to speak of austerity is to further enrich the affluent while casting the average Nigerian into greater hardship and deeper socio-economic depression. As with the Eurozone the past five years since the global financial crisis, austerity has not solved the dire economic weakness of the nations that employed this sickening remedy. All austerity has done is tighten the grip of the wealthy on the economy while weakening the position of the middle class and the poor.

Austerity weakens aggregate demand, deflating an economy already fatigued and against the ropes. Those with hefty portfolios, profit as the value of their holdings appreciates by the very dynamics of deflation. Those who don’t have, find money even dearer to come by. Jobs and commerce disappear. Debt climbs. Deflation turns a noble but poor household into a comity of beggars and street urchins. The austerity that the current administration offers is an insensitive, myopic policy that lends primacy of favour to meaningless accounting figures instead of to the material well-being of the people. Austerity undermines our economic pillars and breaks the spirit of the people. Austerity is the merchant of pessimism and hopeless futility. If you desire a nation of thralls, by all means continue this bleak path. If we want a nation of prosperity and economic justice, a different course is our due.

Listen carefully to the position of the Jonathan administration as articulated by the finance minister and you shall collide into the barricades of illogic and its weighty consequences. The claim is that government is low on funds because the lower price of oil means fewer dollars are being collected from oil sales. This sounds logical but for one fundamental point. The dollar intake is basically irrelevant to determining the amount of naira the government commands and places into the political economy. This fundamental point reveals the government’s position to be the antiquated relic of a past era. It is the way of the gold standard which ceased to exist over 40 years ago. As such, government’s stance is based more on superstition than on the actual functioning of modern economy with a sovereign fiat currency of its own.


written by Asiwaju Tinubu, a National Leader of the All Progressives Congress

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Contact: editor@punchng.com

hmmmm different stories.

akinsadeez:
Bros, your spelling is also wrong. The right spelling is 'Grammar', not Grammer. Hehehehehe. Pot calling kettle.....

Thanks

waldigit:
This is the most sensible hypothesis I have ever heard about on this boko imbroglo. I came to Nairaland to comfirm it, having seen it from other sources.
Although we still need some proof.
By the way why is not on the front page yet?
Seun you really need an overall of these your MODs.

And you my friend needs an 'overhaul' of your grammer


Well, the question now is how do we drive these guys back. The NA has been repeatedly embarrassed by these rampaging demons. Although I personally think there is a high conspiracy at the helms of affairs of this country, that the NA can actually rout these guys but just deliberating standing down.

Lovely woman. Epitome of Beauty and decorum.

redsun:
This myopically as learned man. In uk if an elected member of the house defects to another party,his/her position automatically becomes vacant and subject to a quick by election that involves all participating patties. I'm sure a similar thing happens in America too.

Sometimes we forget that the the sleeping electorates are supposedly the ones that sent the representing thieves to the thieving houses under different party banners and "ideaoloots " and that if by any reason their chosen thief switch sides,the same people should be given the chance to choose another person of their choice based on party affiliations and ideaoloots.

With reference to your assertion about the US. You seem to be wrong. This is a Wikipedia excerpt:

United States

Main article: Party switching in the United States
In the United States' political landscape, dominated by its two-party system, switches generally occur between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, although a number of notable switches to and from third parties (and even between different third parties) have occurred. Since 2004, in a reversal of a trend that had seen predominantly Democratic office-holders switching labels, a number of Republican elected officials in states throughout the country have opted to become Democrats.[who?][when?][citation needed] One other notable "switch" took place in 2001 when Senator Jim Jeffords defected from the Republican Party to become a political independent, which placed the Senate in Democratic control. Use of the term party switch often connotes a transfer of held power from one party to another. The majority of party-switchers in the modern era have switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. This behavior has occurred mostly in the South, due to the gains of the Republican Party since 1950 and has proven somewhat beneficial to the Democrats overall, resulting in increasing the ideological coherence of the Democratic Party as Southern conservative Democrats left the party.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_switching

This is another reference for you from Reuters

Reuters - James Jeffords, a soft-spoken Vermonter whose defection from the Republican Party in 2001 created an unprecedented power shift in the U.S. Senate and gave Democrats control of the chamber for 18 months, has died at age 80, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy said on Monday.

The statement from Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, did not offer any details about the circumstances of Jeffords' death.

Jeffords was a New England moderate who found himself out of step with his increasingly conservative colleagues when he rocked American politics on May 24, 2001, by announcing he was leaving President George W. Bush's Republican Party, tipping the divided Senate.

He declared himself independent, but his decision to caucus with Democrats gave them 51 votes in the chamber that had been split 50-50, with Vice President Richard Cheney's tie-breaking vote putting Republicans in charge.

With his single-handed tipping of the balance of power on Capitol Hill, Jeffords drew the wrath of Republicans and the embrace of Democrats, who were then able to block much of Bush's conservative agenda - from bigger tax cuts to a long list of anti-abortion judicial nominees.

"None whatsoever," Jeffords told Reuters a year later when asked if he had any regrets about his decision. "I'm now working with people I agree with rather than trying to compromise with people I disagree with," he said. "It is a lot easier."

Jeffords, from a progressive state and regarded as one of the most liberal Republicans in Congress, said his disaffection with the party had grown over the years. A feud with the White House over Bush's plan for massive tax cuts was the last straw.

Jeffords said he would vote for the full $1.6 trillion of tax cuts Bush sought only if the White House agreed to spend more on public education for children with disabilities, a program the senator championed.

He and the White House did not come to terms, leaving Republicans one vote short to pass the full tax cut. The Senate eventually passed a $1.3 trillion tax cut.

Jeffords' shift marked the first time control of the Senate changed as result of a defection rather than an election. Then-Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi angrily called his action "a coup of one."

JEEZUM JIM

Many former fellow Republicans barely spoke to Jeffords after his defection. But the Vermont lawmaker shrugged off their bitterness, saying his decision allowed him to sleep better and to again enjoy his work in Congress.

Republicans won back control of the Senate in the November 2002 elections. In early 2005, citing his wife's fight against cancer, Jeffords announced he would not run for a third Senate term in 2006. His wife, Elizabeth, died in 2007. They had two children.

Reared in Rutland, Vermont, Jeffords, the son of a state chief justice, went to Yale, served in the Navy and graduated from Harvard Law School.

He served as Vermont attorney general and in the state legislature before being first elected to the House of Representatives in 1974. He was elected to the Senate 14 years later...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/18/us-usa-politcs-jefords-idUSKBN0GI1J620140818

redsun:
This myopically as learned man. In uk if an elected member of the house defects to another party,his/her position automatically becomes vacant and subject to a quick by election that involves all participating patties. I'm sure a similar thing happens in America too.

Sometimes we forget that the the sleeping electorates are supposedly the ones that sent the representing thieves to the thieving houses under different party banners and "ideaoloots " and that if by any reason their chosen thief switch sides,the same people should be given the chance to choose another person of their choice based on party affiliations and ideaoloots.

Are u sure that is the position of the UK law or that some defectors resigned on personal convictions??

Sound and erudite contribution by a learned person. Not some roadside Agbakoba being granted an interview based on his status as a lawyer; but telling us trash that we should leave law aside and reason sentimentally with him. Nonsense I must say. As if it's not the law that guides our actions and inactions.

automaticcars:
Where is the evidence to this your cooked up rubbish? All these rubbish you posted here only exist in your imaginary head. There is absolutely no truth to this your concocted and fictitious stories.

Stop spreading lies.

Don't mind the sTANist agents. That is how they keep churning out fake stories just to incite hate against other ethnic groups. This dull agent mentioned subsidy fraud, and did not state that one of the chief culprits is the major financier of their saTAN group.

Thanks

Princewill1:
LOOK! NgeneUkwenu or what ever u are called,don't quote me if u got nothing meaningful to say.Go and tell ur pay masters that Apc is not wining anywhere in SE.U are indeed a disgrace to womanhood.STUPOR!

You are a disgrace to male folks. So because someone supports a party other than yours makes you talk to the person in such a way? You are a big disgrace and a coward.

I asked about people that relocated from the unit close to my area. I was told fresh registration will be done for those affected next week.

What does he do? What are the names of his companies?

TAN guys are getting desperate. Creating threads upon threads to discredit the people's General.

The handwriting is clear on the wall. GMB is going to get elected next year. You don't need to kill yourselves with High BP.

The country is tired of the maladministration of the PDP.

Change is coming!

Kasyn:
Have you been to ebonyi state?.......but i must tell you that Osun state is the state with the worst roads in the country!

That is a big lie. 3 months back, I still travelled across like 8 local govts in very rural areas of Osun state and to my surprise, they had good roads. Infact at a point I missed my way and couldn't fathom where I was and had to use Google map to find my way.

Google map represented the roads distinctly and they were good. Some had just been recently constructed sef.

ISpiksDaTroof:
Buhari is better educated than GEJ.

Explain how pls?

I would have preferred a one naira centenary note.

We need to bring one naira back, but unfortunately the Nigerian masses do not like coins. And some starved fraudsters also have frustrated the plan of re-introducing lower denominations by smelting any coin they could lay their hands on.

You PDP bigots. Wait a minute. The way you are going about this, is it only Christians that will be voting in 2015?

I don't understand oh. Be informed that the SW states of Oyo, Osun, Ogun and indigenous Lagos has very good muslim population. Some local governments in Ondo state are also predominantly Islamic.

You lots are an embarrassment to the christian faith. I'm sure if one probes further, it will even reveal that u guys are not good Christians. That you are just using 'Christianity' to express ur bigotry.

I'm a christian but an ardent supporter of change at the central govt. GEJ's govt has caused us more harm than good, and it's time he gets kicked out.

We have told u time and again, leave the SW out of your religious bigotry. We have long discovered that religion does not play a major role in the performance of politicians in office.

idumuose:
i thought that the honourable thing the President should do is to sack his security chiefs for incompetence.

You are right. I agree with you absolutely. I don't know why that is becoming too hard for GEJ. He needs to sack them and as such send a powerful message that he needs only results!

Except maybe they are just doing fine based on GEJ's objectives, plans and expectations.

deletrue:
Am sure you are one of those poorly trained individuals from not only disorganised settings but also from group of deviants. Why do you think you and apc supporters are not the ones encouraging impunity? Could it be that you are just discharged from prolong sickness that has affected your brain region?
Your apc members like Oyegun told the world that if pdp wins Osun, they will run parallele government; apc also brought boko haram. Are all these not an encouragment of impunity? Atiku told us too that Nigerians will never live comfortably and that is exactly what is happening. Is that not another impunity caused by an apc man? You daft. Just now Tambuwal jumped pdp that has assited hiim to that height and describe it as smartness. Is that not the worst impunity morally? Let me stop if you will make the mistake of responding to this post.

Keep on ranting...

jamace:
Please post the list of bills forwarded to the president which he has not assented to. These days a lot of propaganda aimed at pulling GEJ down are peddled from newspaper houses. A document from NASS just like the one I posted will clear all doubts. Thanks for your understanding.

If you are so eager to discuss inconclusive bills, pls open a thread on that. And i'm sure u'll get a full dose of discussions in tht regard.

As regards bills awaiting the President's assent, keep wallowing in self-denial and ignorance. Na u know. Keep supporting presidential laziness in assenting to bills passed by the NASS that will make the lives of people better. Even AIT that is pro PDP and Jonathan, acknowledged these pending bills awaiting assent.

See I don't have your time. I have provided you with enough evidences. Assuming you demonstrated sagacity and intellect in your utterances, I would have taken my time to dig them all out for you. But it is obvious if I take my time to search them out and give you, you will still continue on your ignominious path.

jamace:
This lie from the pit of hell. Go to this link and read abandoned, inclusive bills since 2011 before the house http://www.nassnig.org/nass2/legislation.php?id=1678 . Take note of the remarks on the bills.
You just have to pity the president working with such ineffective legislature.

Why are u arguing blindly??

What we are discussing are the bills awaiting presidential assent!

If you want us to discuss inconclusive bills that's cool. We can do that. But u asked for evidence of numerous bills awaiting presidential assent and I provided u with so many evidences. You should acknowledge that and give your opinion about why so many bills are awaiting presidential assent. Instead, u are still claiming that it is a lie. Are u not ashamed of yourself?

Because u are a supporter of the president does not mean u should see white and call it black. Many of those bills if assented to will provide many jobs.

I'm very much aware of bills awaiting assent because of my professional interest in a particular bill that has been passed since 2012 by NASS that the president has not given his assent to. This particular bill among others will create many jobs.

It is even more worrisome, when a President does not give assent, and does not with-hold his assent. He just left them there like that, as if he does not give a damn!

And be aware that if the tenure of this present NASS elapses, work will have to start afresh on these bills by the next NASS. Imagine what a waste of time and resources that will be. Maintaining our NASS is very costly, and the president is not even trying to make the work they are doing to be worth the expenses.

Should that not give concern to any serious citizen?

jamace:
Name the bills begging for presidential assent, please.

10th September 2014
President Jonathan Yet To Pass Over 120 Bills To Law

- See more at: http://www.aitonline.tv/post-president_jonathan_yet_to_pass_over_120_bills_to_law#sthash.w7Cemj5I.dpuf


AIT
A major challenge before the 7th National Assembly as lawmaker’s resume next week is a pile of bills still awaiting President Goodluck Jonathan’s assent.

The National Assembly has eight months to either over-ride the president’s powers and pass such bills into law or watch their hard legislative work go down the drains.

About 120 bills are currently sitting on the table of President Goodluck Jonathan awaiting his assent; some have been there for over two years.

The President has thirty days to either give his assent or do otherwise, where he withholds his assent the Senate is empowered to veto his action, but the question being asked by is why the upper chamber is yet to exercise this power.

Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba said, “No quick fix when presidential assent is withheld, because you have to subject the bill again through the normal process of lawmaking.”

The process of passing a bill into law could be quite tedious and expensive, and allowing them to pileup in the file of the President clearly renders the entire job done by lawmakers useless or waste of precious time and money.

Senator Clever Ikisikpo said, “I know that I have presented about three good bills, two have passed through second reading, so it takes time and it also takes time for debates and take time for consideration and take time for public hearing and clause to clause mapping within the committee level.”

The 7th National Assembly has eight months to act on the bills not assented to before all of his activities stands dissolved. If this happens then all the bills gathering dust on the President’s table may have to restart the process of lawmaking.

Senator Clever Ikisikpo said, “It depends on the leadership, the leadership can say this bill has gone through to this level, so let’s start from here, that’s means it would not go through the way it suppose to go through, then it can be accelerated.”

Clearly there is need for continuity, a situation where lawmakers come and go is a major structural defect and fixing it may required borrowing the American model of staggered or midterm elections.

Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba said, “In the United States Congress for instance, you have bill that have been pending for a hundred years and they are still pending, it is so because they don’t have the equivalent provision in their constitution that says the congress stands dissolved, the United States Congress is never dissolved because you have elections that are staggered.”

At a moment the bills continue to rest on the president desk, but the bulk doesn’t seem to be on his table, much of it rests squarely on the shoulder of the Senate who many say shouldn’t be shy to exercise its powers enshrined in the constitution.

- See more at: http://www.aitonline.tv/post-president_jonathan_yet_to_pass_over_120_bills_to_law#sthash.w7Cemj5I.dpuf

jamace:
Name the bills begging for presidential assent, please.

Unassented Bills Double Those Signed in 2 Years

•Of 30 bills passed by N’ Assembly, only 10 signed
•No bill pending before President, says Joy Emordi
•Ekweremadu, Zakari: We are frustrated

Chuks Okocha and Onwuka Nzeshi in Abuja
It emerged at the weekend that a total of 20 bills passed by the National Assembly and transmitted to President Goodluck Jonathan in the last two years were un-assented.

THISDAY investigations also revealed that 10 other bills were assented to by the President within the period.
The legislature has repeatedly accused the President of refusing to sign some important bills and ignoring resolutions duly passed by the National Assembly.

The unsigned legislations, THISDAY discovered, included eight executive bills and 12 private member bills.
But virtually all the 20 bills have lapsed now as they were passed and forwarded to the President between November 2010 and June 2011 by the Sixth National Assembly.

Contacted on the development, the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Joy Emodi, said no bill is pending before President Jonathan at present. Emordi said most of the bills being referred to, that the President had refused to sign, were bills passed by the Sixth Assembly from November 2010 to April 2011.

But both the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and Chairman House Committee on Media and Public Affairs Zakari Mohammed expressed frustrations over a situation where bills would be passed by the lawmakers and not signed by the President.

Section 58 (4-5) provides that “Where a bill is presented to the President for assent, he shall within thirty days thereof signify that he assents or that he withholds assent;” and “Where the President withholds his assent and the bill is again passed by each House by two-thirds majority, the bill shall become law and the assent of the President shall not be required”.
But under the law also, an unsigned bill elapses at the end of the lifespan of the assembly.

Among the executive bills not signed and elapsed is the one on Remuneration of former Presidents and Heads of State and Government, Prime Ministers, Heads of Legislative Houses, Chief Justice of Nigeria.

The bill was passed and sent to President Jonathan on November 11, 2010 and has not been signed till date.
Similarly, the National Food Reserve Agency Bill 2010 and Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (Establishment) Bill, both of which were sent to the Presidency on November 25, 2010 were not signed.

Another executive bill tagged the Nigerian Council of Food Science and Technology. Bill, which was transmitted to the President on June 2, 2011, was not signed and has also lapsed.

The Harmonised Age of Academic Staff of Tertiary Institutions Bill 2011 was also transmitted to President Jonathan same day as the former.

Some of the private member bills, which also suffered the same fate, included the National Health Bill and National Tobacco Control Bill 2011.

Also, the Discrimination Against Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (Prohibition) Bill 2011 was not signed into law.
The bills not signed also included the National Climate Change Commission Bill 2010 and the State of the Nation Address Bill 2010.
Investigations revealed that the ten bills signed into law by the President since he assumed office after the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on May 6, 2010 included five executive and five private member bills.

Among the bills so far signed into law are the Debt Management Bureau (Establishment) Bill 2011, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Establishment) Bill 2011, Personal Income Tax (Amendment) Bill and Retirement Age of Staff of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Harmonisation Bill 2012.

Emordi: Unsigned Bills from Sixth Assembly
Emordi told THISDAY that “All the unsigned bills in questions are from the Sixth Assembly. A bill for assent has a legislative life span of 30 days. If a bill is not assented within the legislative life span, it would elapse and this is the problem with most of the bills being referred to. They are bills from the Sixth Assembly and therefore, their life span for assenting into law by the President has elapsed.
“These bills, apart from being the bills from the Sixth Assembly, are bills referred as bills from the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s era”.

Emordi explained that the clarification needed to be made because of what she called the misinformation that the President had refused to sign bills from the National Assembly.

“So far in the Seventh Assembly, there is no bill awaiting the assent of the President. The only bills so far from the Seventh Assembly passed by the National Assembly are the Appropriation Bills, which have been signed into law by the President”.

She said the President is keen to sign any bill from the National Assembly because, in the first place, “this is one of his primary duties of ensuring good governance. He is alive to his duties as the President”.

THISDAY learnt the President did not assent to most of the bills because of its financial implications and the fact that some of the bills spoke of creation of new agencies that would further bloat up the executive arm.

But responding to that, Ekweremadu said: “Let me also correct the impression given to the public that assents were withheld because of the financial implications of setting up new government bodies as may be required by such bills. But that is not correct.

“Most bills don’t have anything with setting up new institutions. And when they do, we take the financial component into account as a prerequisite for passing them, aware that government all over the world is shrinking to reduce running cost. But then, we are the representatives of the people and we know what our people want. As such, when it becomes compelling and well justified, why not?”

Its Unfortunate, Says Ekweremadu
Ekweremadu, however, said it was unfortunate for a bill to be passed by the National Assembly and for it not to be assented to in the first place.
He said, however, that the National Assembly have started to re-introduce some of the bills but that “the lasting solution should be to amend the constitution to spell out what happens once the time the constitution allows for the President to sign or refuse to sign a bill elapses as is the case with the US Constitution I talked about earlier. It is certainly in the interest of the nation to spell it out”.

I think two factors are primarily responsible for the retinue of bills gathering dust for lack of presidential assent. First is the political will to assent to bills. The second and indeed the worst culprit is the 1999 Constitution. Article 1 Section 7 of the US Constitutions allows the President a maximum of 10 working days to assent to a bill. Where he fails to return it before the expiration of the 10 days, it automatically becomes US law. If he or she vetoes or returns it, the Congress can then override his or her veto by two-thirds majority of both chambers.

“Unfortunately in our case, whereas Section 58(4-5) provides that “where a bill is presented to the President for assent, he shall within 30 days thereof signify that he assents or that he withholds assent”; and “Where the President withholds his assent and the bill is again passed by each House by two-thirds majority, the bill shall become law and the assent of the President shall not be required”, the Constitution does not state what happens after the 30 days have elapsed without the President assenting to or returning the Bill to the parliament. Of course, you cannot override what the President has not returned, that is indicating a refusal of assent. So, the waiting game continues ad infinitum. And that is where the Constitution is defective in this respect.

“An unsigned bill elapses at the end of the lifespan of the assembly. The constitution is very clear about it and there is nothing else anyone can really do about it except to re-introduce the bills as deemed as appropriate. In fact, we have already started doing exactly that. But that also means, as earlier explained, we will start expending energy and public funds on the bills that is reintroduced. That’s not fair to us and the nation’s purse.

“Meanwhile, the lasting solution should be to amend the constitution to spell out what happens once the time the constitution allows for the President to a Bill elapses as is the case with the US Constitution I talked about earlier. It is certainly in the interest of the nation to spell it out.

In his reaction, Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs decried a situation whereby lawmakers would carry out thorough work on a bill and send it to the executive, only for the President to refuse to give his assent.

"We have been presenting bills to the President and he has not been signing them. We have been trying to be mature about it that is why we have been taking our time", he said.

While agreeing that the President reserves the right to give or withhold his assent to a bill, the lawmaker however said that when its becomes obvious that the Preisent will not be willing to sign the bills currently with him, the legislature would have no option than to recall them and be compelled to override his veto.

Citing as example the Public Procurement Bill which had been passed but had not been signed by the President, Mohammed said the bill would, if signed into law, sanitise the public procurement process and redefine the role of the Federal Executive Council in the award of contracts.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/unassented-bills-double-those-signed-in-2-years/129608/

jamace:
Name the bills begging for presidential assent, please.

Bills Waiting For The President’s Assent
leadership editorial
— Sep 6, 2014 | 2 Comments
The Senate is reported to be furious that President Goodluck Jonathan is foot-dragging over appending his signature to well over 120 bills it has passed, and which it believes are vital to the socio-economic development of the country and improvement of the life of the average Nigerian. In the face of this development, the lawmakers are threatening to veto the bills after which the president’s assent would not be needed anymore to make them laws of the land.

But some legislators are calling for caution in the matter, insisting that a resort to veto would not augur well for the nation’s democracy. They counsel that instead of a veto, which could be perceived as confrontational, the Senate should adopt a persuasive posture. Others urge the upper chamber of the National Assembly to apply its powers as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution to ensure that every bill passed by both houses of the National Assembly is passed into law with or without the assent of President Jonathan. Section 58 subsections (3)(4)(5) of the 1999 Constitution states: “Where a bill is presented to the president for assent, he shall within 30 days thereof signify that he assents or that he withholds assent. Where the president withholds his assent and the bill is again passed by each House by two-thirds majority, the bill shall become law and the assent of the president shall not be required.”

We urge the lawmakers to make these bills, especially the subjects they cover, available to the public as a way of driving home their point that the withholding of assent by the president is inimical to the well-being of the average Nigerian. The National Assembly needs to do this to address the pervasive view of Nigerians that the lawmakers are idle wayfarers as far as governance of the country is concerned. They also need to do this to save themselves the perception Nigerians have about them as unserious jolly good fellows having fun at the expense of the rest of us.

The Senate, in particular, needs to tell Nigerians which of those bills were actually passed by the present Senate. This is important because, by May next year, they will be rounding off the seventh Senate. Nigerians have a right to know their performance level. Most of the bills in question are alleged to have been passed by the Senate before this.

However, that issues like these are pending before the two arms of government is evidence that they attach little importance to the welfare of Nigerians who stood in the rain and under scorching sun to vote them into office. We urge Nigerians to demand an explanation from these two arms of government and hold them accountable as the next election date approaches.

http://leadership.ng/opinions/editorial/383115/bills-waiting-presidents-assent

jamace:
Name the bills begging for presidential assent, please.

120 bills awaiting President Jonathan’s assent

The Upper Chamber of the National Assembly should apply its powers as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution to ensure that every bill passed by both Houses of the National Assembly are passed into law with or without the assent of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Senate must be blamed and should take full responsibility for the 120 bills awaiting the assent of President Goodluck Jonathan for them to become laws. For President Goodluck Jonathan not to give his assent to the 120 bills and the Senate could not apply its veto power to make them become laws is a clear indication that the Senate is lazy and incompetent. Former Governor of Kano State and Senator representing Kano South Senatorial District of Kano State, Senator Kabiru Gaya made it known recently that 120 bills emanating from the Senate are before President Jonathan to be signed into law. Senator Gaya who made this revelation while answering from newsmen during the closing ceremony of the 1st Waziri Dutse open Golf Championship in Kano metropolis further said that him and his colleagues in the Senate have written and submitted to President Jonathan many bills which he has not signed into law. According to Senator Gaya, this act discourages Senators from writing and presenting bills to the floor of the Senate.

How long have these bills been with the President? Considering the herculean task of passing bills in the two Houses of the National Assembly, the 120 bills might have taken a period of one year to two years. Do the Senators know the act of law making? Do the Senators read and understand the 1999 Constitution as amended? If the Senators did read and understand the 1999 Constitution, why are they blaming President Goodluck Jonathan for withholding his assent to the bills? Did the Senate write to President Jonathan to return the bills to the Senate? If the answer is in the affirmative, what was the response of President Jonathan to such a letter? These questions are vital and need answers from the Honourable Senators.

To say that the Senate is incompetent and also ignorant of the law is to state the obvious because Section 58 subsections (3)(4)(5) of the 1999 Constitution as amendment says thus, ‘Where a bill has been passed by the House in which it originated, it shall be sent to the other House, and it shall be presented to the president for assent when it has been passed by that other house and agreement has been reached between the two houses on any amendment made on it. Where a bill is presented to the president for assent, he shall within thirty days thereof signify that he assents or that he withholds assent. Where the president withholds his assent and the bill is again passed by each House by two-thirds majority, the bill shall become law and the assent of the president shall not be required’.

The relevant section and subsections of the 1999 Constitution quoted above clearly empower the Senate to veto any bill into law that the President withholds his assent within a period of thirty days. The question agitating the minds of Nigerians is, has the Senate explored these relevant sections in the 1999 Constitution to its advantage before it passed the blame on President Jonathan for withholding his assent on the bills? It seems the Senators do not take into cognizance the purpose for which they were elected and are handsomely paid. If they do, why will they allow 120 bills to remain with the President without appending his signature? The Senate should realize the fact that it is indeed stronger than the executive arm of government and should therefore begin to perform its statutory duties to that effect. Thus, it will not be wrong if the Senate should write Mr. President demanding the return of those bills to the National Assembly and pass them into laws by each House by two-thirds majority. This is what Nigerians expect from the National Assembly and not passing the blame on President Goodluck Jonathan when they have not played their own role properly.

We in this newspaper believe that the Senate should take the blame for the large numbers of bills that have not been signed into laws by the President Goodluck Jonathan. The Upper Chamber of the National Assembly should therefore apply its powers as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution to ensure that every bill passed by both Houses of the National Assembly are passed into law with or without the assent of President Goodluck Jonathan. The sooner the Senate realizes its important role to the Nigerian society and fulfils it, the better the country will become.
http://dailyindependentnig.com/2013/12/120-bills-awaiting-president-jonathans-assent/

bjdon:
My brother it's not that posters fault, na because they no take IQ test before approving use of Internet. Any brainless nematode can come on here and type trash, then go back home and start to look for where to find fuel for their generator to watch football. Too many people in this country are just darn brainless. In fact if there is a revolution it's not just the corrupt leaders that need to be culled!!

Bros I went to the filling station this evening to buy fuel to provide light for my family, I almost wept. If u see crowd! People with different types of gallons.

I was even lucky I went there with a car and so was not mandated to stay on the gallon queue. I just felt sad for the people, they were struggling with bikes wt the attendants, arguing whose turn it was to be attended to; if u even see the way people were giving me hateful glances just because I came wt a car and they had to sell for me before them. This is usually the case at Lagos filling stations in highly populated areas at night.

There is big problem in this country. People are suffering! And it's so sad that when we decide to ask our leaders the appropriate questions, some mofos will be shouting 'hate' and they will be adding ethnic and religious sentiments to issues.

And the painful part of it is that people are now aversed to the truth, just because of ethnic sentiments.

While growing up in Nigeria, I can remember that we still had better light than what we have now. Then, we were just complementing NEPA with generators.

But now... the situation is pathetic. we are running generators more, and complimenting it wt public power supply once in a while.

The irony of the whole matter is that we are a nation richly blessed by God, and should not be experiencing this if good leadership is in place.