Leadership (Abuja)
4 July 2008
Abuja — The House of Representatives yesterday voted against a motion that President Umaru Yar'Adua breached the 1999 Constitution by approving the release of N1.2 trillion from the Excess Crude Account.
The motion, sponsored by Rep. Patrick Obahiagbon and 34 others, suffered a setback as members ruled against it, saying that no offence had been committed.
Obahiagbon argued that the approval by the National Economic Council on June 19 for the release of N1.2 trillion from the Excess Crude Account was a breach of the constitution.
Obahiagbon (PDP-Edo) said that Section 162 (3) of the 1999 Constitution empowered only the National Assembly to distribute funds from the Federation Account to the federal, state and local governments.
The lawmaker, therefore, urged the House to compel Yar'Adua to suspend the release of the funds.
Those who spoke on the motion, including Reps. Ndudi Elumelu (PDP-Delta), Femi Gbajabiamila (AC-Lagos), Gbenga Oduwaye (PDP-Ogun) and Chinyere Igwe (PDP-Rivers), commended its purpose.
But Elumelu said that in spite of the fact that the motion was good, his investigation revealed that the money had yet to be released.
Speaking in the same vein, Gbajabiamila said that since no constitutional violation had been committed, the House should wait for the breach before taking any action.
After an elaborate debate, it was unanimously agreed that Yar'Adua had not committed any offence and that there was no need to ask him to suspend the funds' release.
When Speaker Dimeji Bankole called for a vote on the matter, majority of the members favoured the suspension of the motion until the offence was committed.
In a related motion, the House yesterday called on the Federal Government to direct its appropriate agencies to conduct an environmental impact assessment of Nanka in Anambra State, to curb the menace of erosion there.
The motion, sponsored by Rep. Uche Ekwunife (PDP-Anambra), stressed that erosion menace was threatening the people's lives and property in Nanka.
After the debate, the House also called on NEMA to assist the affected communities and the people who were displaced by the environmental problem.
The House also resolved to include the Nanka erosion-control project in the 2008 Appropriation (Amendment) Bill. (NAN)
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