Iheanacho Nwosu
20 November 2009
The Senate's Tuesday rejection of President Umaru Yar'Adua's virement proposal has continued to generate uncommon reactions in some circles. Certainly even the presidency would be jolted that the request was given a cold shoulder by the legislators.
President Yar'Adua had on November 3, in a letter to the Senate President, David Mark implored the lawmakers to approval the movement of funds from some projects in the 2009 budgets to others.
Specifically the President requested that N50billion earmarked for Design and Cost Prototype for skills centres in the Niger Delta in this year's budget be removed and diverted to some unnamed projects. He also asked that N455million be removed from the N500million appropriated for Ekporakwa-Ukanafun-Ikot-Uko-Aba Road in Akwa Ibom be diverted to other projects.
In the same vein he requested that N419million be removed from the N500million earlier budgeted for dualisation of Obeha-Akete-Etinan Road in Abia State to other projects. Equally he urged the lawmakers to move N400million voted for Sea Port Development in Gele-Gele in Edo State to other Projects.
The legislators did not skirt their stand with pretences; they were direct in their attack of the president's request. The opposition first came from senators from the South South but their colleagues from other zones later joined. It is understandable why the lawmakers from the Niger Delta and South East were brimming with anger over the President's move.
The affected projects are located in the two zones. The lawmakers were unanimous in their stand that the virement request will be okayed on the ground that the President will provide convincing reason(s) for wanting to move the funds from the projects.
Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw submitted "This virement is unacceptable to us. It intends to remove money from Cross River State at a time the State is impoverished. We should know the reason for all these movements. Why are they being removed from one project to the other."
Henshaw's comments received applause from his colleagues who battled for recognition. Senator Lee Maeba said "It is wrong for us to consider this issue of virement without knowing the root cause of the virement . The discussion of this virement should be stood down and the finance committee should investigate why the projects were not carried out. This is another way of bringing another budget. Non-execution of budget on the part of the executive is an impeachable offence."
Senator Nimi Barigha-Amange held similar stand. He asked "Is East-West road synonymous with Niger-Delta? We should find out why money meant for other projects in the region are vired to construct East-West roads. Let us allow the finance committee why the projects cannot be executed"
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekeremadu took the matter from a different angle. He was concerned about the constitutionality of the President's request. He said "No part of the constitution mentioned virement. There is no provision to move funds from one project to another. It is not in this constitution. From 2010 we should outlaw virement completely. If the Federal Government needs money it should come by way of supplementary budget".
Senator Abubakar Sodangi raised a moral question on the President's request. He argued "When you have gone to your people to tell them there will be bridge and road and men and equipment have been mobilized, and now they are trying to remove N1billion out of the N2billion they have appropriated for the project. We should find out why the virement when the Project is ongoing. This is not good, this is not proper. I appeal to my colleagues to allow it to get to the committee to do justice to it".
The duo of Senators Uchechukwumerije and Iyabo-Obasanjo Bello also kicked against the virement. Mindful of the mood of the lawmakers, Mark had to play along.He ensured that the president was not disgraced by throwing away the request as suggested by many senators. Instead he asked the finance committee to investigate the reason behind the move by the President.
He said "We have not been given sufficient reasons for this virement. This is bound to receive this resistance because nobody will sit here and allow money to be taken from critical project in his constituency.
"The emphasis is on road which is key to development. In passing the 2009 budget, we allowed virement which was wrong. But in 2010, the ministries should be able to programme themselves. Let the committees invite the ministries to justify the figures. If they justify it, we approve the request"
Of course the presidency will not be happy with the treatment of the matter by the senate. No one needs a soothsayer to arrive at this conclusion. But many Nigerians especially non partisan ones are comfortable with the stance of the lawmakers. Apart from the fact that it weaved an air of independence around the lawmakers, it has, a kind of, strengthened people's confidence on the upper chamber. It showed that the senate is a rubber stamp of the presidency as believed in many quarters.
Sure, virement is not a new word in the nation's political lexicon. It has always come up especially towards the last quarter of the fiscal year. This is really the first time the senate has cared to look at the legality of it.
And the concern now becomes if the leadership of the chamber is aware that virement has no constitutional back up as submitted by Ekweremadu why did Mark still take the President's request to the finance committee? Why is the President not disposed to sending a supplementary budget which is permitted by law and which predictably will be endorsed by the legislator with little hesitation?
It is, as observed by some lawmakers, baffling that the projects which the president wants funds to be moved away are roads which are in a dilapidated shape. Apart from that it is shocking that at a time when the same presidency is giving impression that it is committed to raising development bar in the Niger Delta to help restore peace, it is also asking that ongoing projects in the area should be suspended for inexplicable reason.
The likely implication of the move is that residents of the region may see it as a sign that the Federal Government is not committed to the development plans it has mouthed. And that is clearly dangerous.
It is not to say that the projects which the presidency wants to vire money to are not important, the facts remain that it has other ways of raising money to execute them without hurting the feelings of some individuals. The senate should insist on the president exploring such channels.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Daily Champion. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
