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.
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.
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.
The bill if passed will
give President Buhari power to:
*abridge the procurement
process to support 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;
*allow virement of
budgetary allocation to projects that are urgent, without going back to the
National Assembly.
*amend certain laws, such
as the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act, so that states that
cannot access their cash trapped in the accounts of the commission because they
cannot meet the counterpart funding, can do so; and
*to embark on radical
reforms in visa issuance at Nigeria’s consular offices and on arrival in the
country and to compel some agencies of government like the Corporate Affairs
Commission (CAC), the National Agency for Foods Administration and Control
(NAFDAC) and others to improve on their turn around operation time for the benefit
of business.
Thisday
Funny lots
ReplyDeleteBuhari can still go ahead and do whatever
ReplyDeleteBunch of thieves
ReplyDelete