₦airaland Forum

The move by President Muhammadu Buhari to secure emergency powers aimed at addressing the nation’s economic crisis may not see the light of the day, as senators yesterday rejected the proposed bill, saying Buhari was seeking to transform himself into a tyrant and would foist a dictatorship on the nation.

The bill entitled, “Emergency Economy Stabilisation Bill 2016”, will be sent to the National Assembly by the president upon resumption from its summer vacation and after the Eid el Kabir holidays.

However, given the reaction of some senators to the proposed emergency powers being sought by Buhari through the bill, the legislation may be thrown out.
Several senators, who spoke to THISDAY monday, vehemently kicked against it, adding that it was “dead on arrival”.

According to the senators, who did not want to be named, some of the provisions in the bill were unnecessary, describing it as nothing more than a subtle way of avoiding counterpart funding by the Buhari administration.

According to them, if the bill is passed as proposed, the president will gradually transform himself into a dictator and draw Nigeria back to the path of military rule, which it exited 17 years ago.

They said without the so-called emergency powers at his disposal, Buhari has continued to trample on the powers of the legislature, explaining that if given further powers, he would more or less reduce the National Assembly to a rubber stamp like the kinds of legislature that exist in China and Russia.

Accordingly, the senators who spoke to THISDAY vowed to kill the bill before Buhari kills the entire legislature and by extension, the nation’s traumatised democracy.

An unnamed government official had disclosed to reporters at the weekend that Buhari would seek emergency powers from the National Assembly to push his planned stimulus for the economy.

The objectives of the bill will include shoring up the value of the naira, job creation, boosting foreign exchange reserves, reviving the manufacturing sector, and improving power supply.

The quest for emergency powers by the executive is the initiative of the economic team headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, which has been saddled with the responsibility of reviewing various policies in the country and their effects on the economy.

The economic team examined the state of the nation and concluded that there was urgent need to take some drastic decisions that the nation’s extant laws do not provide for.

This assumption by the team was predicated on the belief that the recession might last longer than expected and Nigerians would not get the desired respite, which is the goal of this government.
As provided in the bill, the president is seeking unfettered powers to set aside some extant laws and simultaneously be empowered to come up with an economic recovery initiative within the next one year.

Among others, the bill also seeks to empower Buhari to abridge the procurement process with a view to guaranteeing stimulus spending on critical sectors of the economy; make orders to favour local contractors/suppliers in contract awards; abridge the process of sale or lease of government assets to generate revenue; and allow virement of budgetary allocations to projects that are urgent, without a recourse to the National Assembly.

It also seeks to amend laws such as the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act, so that states that cannot access their cash trapped in the commission’s accounts as a result of their inability to meet the counterpart funding can do so.

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Jonathan exiting the villa after meeting with Buhari

Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan has downplayed the importance of his latest visit to President Muhammadu Buhari.

On Wednesday, Jonathan visited Buhari at the presidential villa, drawing the curiosity of journalists on the purpose of the meeting.

But speaking with state house correspondents before exiting the villa, Jonathan said he had met the president many times without the notice of journalists, because such meetings were in the night.

He added that as a former president, he had become a property of the state and visits to the president should be expected.

“You asked why I came to see the president today; one key thing is that having been a head of government, a former president, you become a state property,” he said.

“That’s the privilege you have but every privilege has its corresponding responsibility, and once you become a state property, most of your international engagements that have to do with public addresses and some international assignments, they become national assignments; you brief the President.

“Even when I was here, the former presidents used to do that and see me. I have been coming; most times I come in the night; that’s why you don’t see me.

“I came to brief the president about some of my engagements. As you are aware, I will leading the AU elections monitoring team to Zambia, I came to brief the president about some of these external engagements. It is the tradition.”


Jonathan also spoke on resolving renewed agitation in the Niger Delta, saying all the stakeholders must be involved in efforts to find solutions.

“It’s not just about me but about all the traditional rulers, elders and opinion leaders that are of the Ijaw ethnic nationality,” he said.

“We have been in touch to see that peace reigns in the country; those of you that have followed my talks when I was here, my emphasis was always that we need a united Nigeria and I always emphasise that Nigeria is great not just about the oil. So many countries produce more oil than Nigeria but nobody notices them.

“We are great because of our size, the human resources we have, the diversity we have. If we fragmentise the country into small components, we will be forgotten by the world. That has been my focal position and without peace there cannot be development anywhere in the world; we are all working collectively to see that issues are resolved.”

Asked for his comments about the fight against corruption, he said: “I don’t want to talk about that one because there are too many cases that are in court.

“It will not be fair to make comments; I will talk at the appropriate time when most of these things are resolved.”

suasmablow:
I am sure the church may reject him too because he has been so compromised.
I am of the opinion that this can denounce his faith because of politics
is that then a real pastor?

okudili4live:
The bad roads you mentioned are federal roads and is supposed to be worked on by the minister of works who is a great son of ishan Land and endorsed by Anini. PDP has already lost the polls but is good to try.

cyrilamx:
The esan re to edo State what the igbos are to Nigeria. They are both united in one thing: cry of marginalisation even when they have held noble positions in successive governments at the federal and State levels. The hatred the Esan man has for the binis even when they share great similarities with the binis in traditional greetings, names etc is unparallel in history. Their love for the PDP is liken to the igbos love for PDP..they cant read the hands writing on the wall that your Own senatorial Zone alone cant Win gobernorship election when you openly Display hatred for other zones like Anenih is doing by asking Esanland to vote PDP. Should PDP lose the September 10 election and APC emerge victorious, esan will start shouting marginalisation afternoon shooting their legs on their feet like the people across the Niger in the last general Elektrons. Why not have both options so that any party that wirst, esan people wont be left out.
The op goofed when he said 'Edo monarch'. I dont know the Kind of School people attend this days. [b]A monarch is a King or Queen ruling a country or Empire as defined by the Oxford Advance Learner's Dictionary, 6th Edition. And in Edo state, we have only one Monarch, the Oba of Benin. It is tantamount to royal treason to refer to other romance fathers in Edo state as Monarch. They are Dukes because their royal right subsist from the Oba of Benin who has suzarainty over them. So esanland has no monarch in the narrow sense of the meaning of the word, rather they have Enijies meaning Dukes co[/b]rrupted form of Enigies(edo Word for dukes).

JIGHU:
ONOJIE OF OPOJI DOES NOT EVEN COMMAND RESPECT IN THE VILLAGE TALKLESS OF ENTIRE ESAN LAND, I AM FROM AGUA AND I KNOW THAT FOR A FACT, OPOJI WILL VOTE PDP AND THIS JUDAS WHO COLLECTED MONEY FROM OSHIOMOLE WILL ONLY DECEIVE OSHIO