Before the two chambers in the assembly —Senate and House of Representatives— resolved to summon Sanusi, members took turns to tongue-lash him, saying his claim amounted to treason and outright mischief.
In the Senate, he is expected to appear before the committees on Appropriation and Finance on Wednesday and the entire House members on Thursday. The appearance before the Senate committees will be broadcast live, said the President of the Senate, Mr. David Mark.
The lawmakers also summoned the Minister of Finance, Mr. Segun Aganga, to come with evidence on how much was budgeted for the National Assembly and the releases so far.
Sanusi had, while delivering a lecture at the Igbenedion University, Okada, Edo State, on Friday, claimed that 25 per cent of the nation’s annual recurrent overhead was spent on lawmakers.
On Monday, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media, Senator Ayogu Eze, said that Sanusi’s claim was not factual.
When the Senate began its Tuesday’s plenary, members resolved that Sanusi’s claim should not be dismissed with a wave of the hand.
Although all the lawmakers in attendance agreed that the CBN governor should be summoned, they differed on whether he should appear before the Committee on Appropriation and Finance or Committee of the Whole.
When the President of the Senate ruled that the CBN governor should appear before the Committee of the Whole, Senator Lee Maeba, challenged him, saying it would amount to glorifying him (Sanusi) since he had brought the legislature to disrepute.
The controversy generated by this led to a call for a division by Maeba.
A division allows senators to vote separately, answering yes or nay when their names are called with the Clerk and the President of the Senate recording all the votes.
At the end of the exercise, Maeba’s challenge was sustained as majority of members voted yes to refer the matter to standing committees.
Presenting a motion on the issue, Senator Ndoma-Egba, described Sanusi’s claim as false and misleading. He said that it was a calculated attempt to bring the National Assembly to ridicule.
Senator Bode Olajumoke, in his contribution, said the ‘false information’ by the CBN governor had portrayed the National Assembly members as ‘rogues.’
While the Deputy President of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, blamed the ‘misinformation’ by Sanusi on ignorance, Senator Patrick Osakwe described it as “calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it.”
In his contribution, Senator Ayo Arise suggested that the Senate should publish in the media, the status of the
legislature’s budget.
He said 25 per cent of the budget would run into trillions, adding that if the matter was not treated well, it could constitute a security problem for lawmakers.
Senator Dahiru Umar informed the Senate that the presentation of the claim on the British Broadcasting Corporation Hausa Service made commentators to call on the military to sack members of the National Assembly.
For Senator Anthony Manzo, the Senate should not hesitate to sack the CBN governor if there were reasons to do so.
Eze also lamented that repeated publications of falsehood against the National Assembly were becoming embarrassing to the families of its members.
He said the claim by Sanusi amounted to treason, as it was calculated to bring down the National Assembly, which he described as a symbol of democracy.
In his final ruling on the matter, Mark said the continued attacks on members of the National Assembly were no longer acceptable.
“We have said this over and over, and yet they still keep repeating it. Once they hear it, they jump at it. I think we need to invite them to explain to us on live television,” he said.
The Senate also resolved to invite the Minister of Finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, before its standing committees on Wednesday to also shed light on Sanusi’s allegations.
The Special Adviser to the President on Millennium Development Goals, Mrs. Amina Azubir, was also summoned to appear to clarify the award of MDG contracts.
In the House of Representatives, furious members said that Sanusi had portrayed them as thieves and people who did not deserve to be trusted.
They said this under Matters of Urgent Public Importance raised by the Chairman of the House Committee on Air Force, Mr. Halims Agoda.
The lawmakers observed that out of the total national budget of N4.6tn for 2010, the share of the ”entire” National Assembly, the National Assembly Commission, including legislative aides, was about N134bn.
They held the view that it did not make any ”mathematical sense” as to how N134bn would become 25 per cent of N4.6tn.
The House, in a resolution, summoned Sanusi to appear before its members on Thursday to back his comments with “facts and figures.”
Before the decision to summon Sanusi and Aganga was taken, the Chairman of the House Committee on Power, Mr. Patrick Ikhariale, said the comment by the CBN governor was capable of making Nigerians “see us as nothing but thieves.”
His counterpart in the Committee on Gas Resources, Mr. Igo Aguma, called for the resignation of Sanusi.
Aguma advised that it was high time Nigerians beamed their searchlights on the recurrent expenditure of major government agencies and corporations like the CBN and the NNPC.
He recalled that four years ago, the CBN was spending over N200bn on recurrent expenditure without recourse to the National Assembly.
The Minority Whip of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, expressed concern that the CBN governor was often associated with ‘unguarded utterances.’
”This is a man who has shown consistent disdain for the National Assembly”, he said, adding that he suspected some collaboration between Sanusi and Aganga to bash the National Assembly.
But some lawmakers urged caution, saying that Sanusi should be accorded the opportunity of fair hearing.
Mr. Emmanuel Jimeh, for example, said that it was ”too early to call for his resignation.”
”Let us follow the principle of fair hearing; he should be called to defend his statement”, Jime advised.
When he was given the floor to contribute to the debate, the Chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency, Mr. Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi, claimed that Sanusi had admitted to making a ‘statistical mix-up.’
Ozomgbachi disclosed that the CBN governor, who was outside the country, learnt of the publication of his comments in the media and telephoned him (Ozomgbachi) to offer explanations.
”He called me to express concern about a statistical mix-up”, Ozomgbachi said and suggested that a few committees should look into the matter and submit a report to the House.
Lawmakers opposed the suggestion and insisted on having Sanusi appear before them on Thursday.
The Speaker of the House, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, said he was not surprised at the bashing the legislature was receiving.
Bankole recalled that the House had recovered around N1tn unspent funds from the Executive since 2007.
He said, ”The House stopped a N64bn runway contract; these people were there when this contract was awarded.
”What did they say? People will always challenge us but we must be ready to reply them with facts and figures.”
When THE PUNCH contacted the CBN governor on Tuesday, he said he would honour the summons.
He said, “Since the National Assembly has invited me, I will go there tomorrow (today). It will not be proper for me to reply them on the pages of newspapers. The session will be live, you will hear my response there.”
A source close to him, however, said he would stand by his comment. He said Sanusi’s paper mentioned “25 per cent of Federal Government’s overheads.”
Source:http://www.punchng.com/
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