Hon. Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, House Chairman, Committee on Public
Petitions Spoke on the current crisis rocking the House of Representatives.
READ FULL INTERVIEW BELOW
HALLOWMACE: How would you react to the allegation that the budget was padded?
Hon. NKEM-ABONTA: Thank you very much, first of all, the
activities of the House must be followed; people should read, monitor and
follow us. It is all about democracy.
On the issue of budget, some Nigerians do not understand
the role of the Legislature in budget preparation. The Constitution says that a budget Estimate shall be laid by Mr. President; then the National
Assembly will look at this estimate and turn it into a Law. It is wrong to use the word "padding" because it connotes illegality. The National Assembly has the power to
remove any part of the estimate that is not in agreement with the Constitution.
Hon. Abdulmumin Jubrin is
like somebody who is sinking and wants everybody to sink with him. It is normal and proper for members to have
Constituency projects, before now, our constituents thought we collect monies meant for Constituency projects, No, you only nominate projects as agreed per state. If you deny members from including Constituency projects, how will
every Constituency experience development? United Nations quoted
that more than 80% Nigerians do not have access to portable water, so members
need Constituency projects to address all those challenges. The budget was not
padded.
HALLOWMACE: If the budget was not padded, why did the Leadership of the House of Representatives
sack the former Chairman House Committee on Appropriations?
Hon. NKEM-ABONTA: If he was sacked by the leadership, i feel it is
based on the activities that they felt was unbecoming of him.
HALLOWMACE: Former
President Olusegun Obasanjo recently referred to the National Assembly and its
members as ''thieves'', and the revelations from Hon. Jubril is giving the National Assembly a bad image. how would you react to it?
Hon. NKEM-ABONTA:
Hon. Jubril is saying all that because he’s aggrieved, it is very
parliamentary to lobby in the process of budgeting, it is also very
parliamentary to make case for projects in your Constituency according to the
needs of your Constituents. The public should understand the mechanism of
incubating a budget. It is also very normal for members to send their request
to the Speaker and Appropriations, and when the request is approved, would you say the budget was padded?
Principal officers normally get preferential treatment more over and above members. Why is Hon. Jubrin selective as regards the principal officers? Is he saying that apart from the 4 principal officers he mentioned, other principal officers did not lobby him?
As for the former President, I don’t want to join issues
with him because what he made was just a statement without facts. I cannot say that the
National Assembly is full of saints but i can also tell you that National
Assembly members are not thieves.
Obasanjo is an elder statesman and also being affected by age, i pray that God continues to protect him.
HALLOWMACE: The
House has called on the EFCC to investigate Hon. Jubril, and the Investigation backdated to when
he was Chairman House Committee on Finance in the 7th Assembly,
Would you support that he is Investigated and punished?
Hon. NKEM-ABONTA: The Rules of the House states that
members should not make statements that will put the House in disrepute, more
so when the statements are false. Members should not also infringe on other people’s privileges. Am not going to speculate what the House is going to do
but I advocate for peaceful existence and lawful settlement. If
they have invited EFCC look into his past activities, I will only say that
“Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
HALLOWMACE: Sir, why did you kick against the NDDC nominee from your state, Abia?
Hon. NKEM-ABONTA: The NDDC act is not a normal law. The
law states that for you to be a Commissioner representing a State, you must be
an indigene of an Oil producing area. In Abia, oil is found in my Constituency
only. The nominee is not an indigene of an oil producing area, so cannot be our representative. President Buhari operates on rule of law, and we know that he will operate the law
in this case.
Thank you.
0 comments: