Despite Outcry: Saraki, Dogara Shield Assembly Accounts From Public
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, have been under intense pressure to make release the breakdown of the budget of the National Assembly shrouded in secrecy for public scrutiny. The two leaders have, however, appeared unwilling to yield.
The pressure became high three weeks ago following a report that 109 Senators and 360 House of Representatives members share N46billion annually as running cost.
It was gathered that last week, Dogara had planned to make the salaries and allowances of members of the House public.
A lawmaker told one of our correspondents that at the “last minute” he (Dogara) was advised against doing so.
He said: “If you remember, the speaker constituted a needs assessment committee headed by Mr Clement Nwankwo to look into the actual needs of members of the House. In the end, the committee came to the conclusion that what we’re being paid is even lower than what obtains in some African countries.
“The speaker wanted to make everything public, but some key members advised him to think twice. They told him that Nigerians won’t take it lightly with us considering the ongoing recession. Some people will also feel that there’s no justification for what we earn, no matter how small it is,” the lawmaker said.
However, he added that Dogara and his team were strategizing on how to go about the revelation without attracting negative reactions from Nigerians.
Our correspondents report that Rep Ayo Omidiran (APC, Osun), twice attempted to raise the issue on the floor of the House following bashings she received from her constituents via the social media.
She first raised a point of order on October 5 and two weeks after she did same but in all cases, the Speaker blocked her from raising the issue, considered to be controversial by the lawmakers.
Speaking on the matter, a lawmaker who did not want to be named, told Daily Trust on Sunday that there was no way the management of the National Assembly could reduce or ‘streamline’ their running costs, because “it was streamlined long ago.”
“Sometime around 2005 and 2006, what obtained was that all the allowances and other benefits were paid separately, but later on, the leadership of the National Assembly decided to bring everything together so that lawmakers would see it in bulk.
“So, what are they streamlining really? What do they even mean by streamlining? This is something that was done long ago. If they’re thinking about reducing our running costs, it’s not possible because they’re not our bosses; we’re their bosses,” the lawmaker said.
The lawmaker added that what his colleagues expected was an increase in their budget in view of current realities in the federal legislature and not reduction.
“Look, since around 2006, the budget of the National Assembly was pegged at N150bn, but of course we know what happened in 2015 when it was later reduced to around N130bn and N115bn this year.
“If you look at the trend, every sector’s budget has been increasing over the years, but that of the National Assembly has been declining. In actual fact, members of the National Assembly have made sacrifices in terms of their earnings. Some of us feel that the legislature’s budget should be around N300bn by now.”
Contacted, the Special Adviser to the Senate President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, said the management of the National Assembly was working on it.
“The management recently issued a statement whereby they were talking about transparency and their plans on the budget,” Olaniyonu said in a phone interview.
The spokesman of the House, Abdulrazak Namdas (APC, Adamawa), could not be reached for reaction as his two telephone lines were switched off. Namdas was said to be in his constituency in Adamawa State.
However, his deputy, Rep Jonathan Gaza Gbefwi (PDP, Nasarawa), when contacted, said he was away on oversight for a week and referred our correspondent back to Namdas.
The breakdown of the budget was available for public scrutiny until 2010 when it was made a single line item under Senator David Mark’s era as Senate President.
The budget ballooned from N23.3billion in 2003 to N154billion in 2010. It was slashed down to N115billion this year, in response to public outcry. The budget covers National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) and the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS).
Saraki had in November last year pledged to make the breakdown of the budget public during 2016 budget processes. He had repeated the same pledges on many occasions and almost a year after, he is yet to fulfill them.
In July, while reacting to a report about his failure to avail the public with the breakdown, he said the management was putting finishing touches on it.
As a result of his explanation, the pressure being mounted for the release of the budget breakdown subsided until three weeks ago when the cost of the lawmakers’ running cost became public.
Our correspondent reports that since then pressures have been mounting from both within and outside the National Assembly.
In a reaction to the running cost story, the leadership of the National Assembly said plans were in the offing to streamline it.
Specifically, the management said plans were underway to remove the National Assembly from a system known as ‘Charts of Account’ being developed by the executive arm to ‘Accounting Manual,’ which would take care of all the peculiarities of the federal legislature.
A source close to the management told one of our correspondents that the budget breakdown cannot be made public without the amendment of the law.
“You cannot blame the management for the delay because the law that made the budget to be a single line item must be amended before it can be released to the public.
“It has to go through the full legislative procedures, that is, first, second and third reading. It is only when it is passed by both chambers and assented to by the President that it can be made public. That was how it was done in 2010 when it became a single line item on the budget,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjni, told Daily Trust on Sunday that they would continue to demand that the National Assembly come out clean on the issue of transparency and openness in its budget as well as adherence to the Public Procurement Act.
As it is, the National Assembly does not comply with the laws on procurement, a development that is antithetical to the country’s democracy, Rafsanjani said.
He said it would be good if the leadership of the National Assembly made public its budget.
“It’s a welcome development if the National Assembly can fulfill that promise of making the budget open to the public. The Senate President has been making that promise since last year, but we’re yet to see that actualize.
“But beyond that, we want to see transparency and accountability. We want to see how they can cut waste and mismanagement.
“We also want to see the National Assembly complying with the public procurement law. From the feelers we’re getting, they’re not complying with that law as at now. We would like to see all these commitments along with prudent management of resources and elimination of duplication of projects.
“It’s possible for them to do all this. It’s possible the money they have now may not be enough or it’s, but let it be opened to Nigerians. We’re not opposed to the issue of the National Assembly having adequate resources, but they should be utilized prudently,” he said.
On the recent revelation that the National Assembly leadership was ready to streamline the lawmaker’s running costs, Rafsanjani said: “It’s also good as long as it’s not in violation of the provisions of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
“It should be backed by a legislation, let it not be counterproductive. Over the years, there has been financial immunity at all levels of governments and at different stages - from the civil service to the public service.