Political campaigns take spark off governance
With a fortnight to the presidential and National Assembly polls, electioneering campaigns have slowed down the pace of governance in the country, especially at the executive and legislative arms of government.
The stepping up of campaigns by President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara and many lawmakers have slowed down the pace of governance in the country.
FEC meeting cancelled twice
The campaign has led to the cancellation of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting which holds Wednesdays twice this year.
Section 148 ( 2 ) of the 1999 Constitution stipulates that the president shall hold regular meetings with the vice president and all the ministers of the government of the federation for the purposes of determining domestic and foreign policies of the government, to coordinate the activities of the president, vice president and ministers and lastly, to advise the president on policies and governmental affairs. The maiden FEC meeting for this year was held on January 9 and was presided over by the president. It was at that meeting that the council approved N812m for Mambilla Hydro Power Project, $9m variation for Escravos to Lagos gas pipeline, 1.7bn for Kano flight information region project and establishment of four private universities. A 24-man panel for the implementation of the new minimum wage was also inaugurated.
The second tagged ‘Extraordinary FEC meeting’ was held on January 15, also presided over by President Buhari. It was at the meeting that the issue of the new minimum wage was finalised.
But the FEC meeting could not hold on the 23rd and 30th as both the president and vice president were on campaigns in some states. On the 23rd, the president was in Sokoto and Kebbi states. He was in Cross River and Ebonyi states on January 30, thus the meeting was put off.
In the absence of the president, the vice president presides over the FEC meeting where critical national issues and projects are discussed and approved.
Barring any last minute change, it may still not hold next Wednesday as the president is set to be in Nasarawa and Benue states for his re-election campaign.
The president’s campaign programme revealed that he will be preoccupied throughout next week, moving from one state to the other for his electionering campaigns.
If this happens, it would be the third consecutive time without the meeting holding.
President Buhari had during the inauguration of his Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) assured that governance won’t suffer and that the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, would fully be in charge of his campaigns.
Buhari said; “This campaign is going to tax us all, because we intend to touch all corners of our great and vast country. But I must also add that though we will all be deeply involved, I would like to assure the nation that I will do my part without making governance or my work suffer. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, my co-chairman, will be fully in charge, and is going to be on 24-hour vigil.”
Key things Buhari did alongside campaigns
Alongside his campaigns, the president has utilised his visits to states to commission projects. Some of the projects so far commissioned include the N6bn Baro River Port Complex in Niger state, the Ariaria Market Independent Power Project in Abia state, among others.
The president on Monday hosted at the Presidential Villa, the spiritual director of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka who predicted his victory in 2015.
Also, the president hosted senators and senatorial candidates of the APC to a dinner at the Banquet Hall of the presidential Villa, Abuja. National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, disclosed at the end of the meeting that lasted for about two hours, that they met over the forthcoming elections.
Penultimate Friday, the president suspended the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Jusitce Walter Onnoghen following an order by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over issues relating to his assets declaration at the Code of Conduct Bureau ( CCB). Buhari replaced Onnoghen with Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed, in acting capacity, albiet with wides scale backlash.
Before the suspension of Onnoghen, the president had signed Executive Order 007 to close the road infrastructure gap in the country. In the first phase of the program, 19 road projects covering 794km in 11 states are to be constructed by six companies through tax credit.
Same day, the president hosted governors and governorship candidates of the APC at the presidential Villa, Abuja. Issues relating to the forthcoming elections were said to have dominated the event.
On January 23, the president assented to the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018. The day also witnessed the transmission of the new Minimum Wage Bill to the National Assembly. Buhari on January 22 presided over the Council of State meeting.
The president on January 15, appointed an acting Inspector- General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, following the attainment of the mandatory retirement age of 60 by Ibrahim Idris.
On his part, Osinbajo presided over the National Economic Council ( NEC) meeting where various national issues including the new minimum wage and farmers/ herders clashes were discussed. The vice president
had also launched, ‘ The Green Imperative’ agricultural mechanization programme with a $1.1bn loan from the Brazilian government.
Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, said there is no rule that says FEC meetings must hold every week. He said during President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration, the meeting was held bi-weekly.
“What are they basing their conclusion on? Go and check the rule. There is nothing that says FEC must hold every week. Under Yar’Adua, it was held bi-weekly. There is no rule that says FEC must hold everyweek,” he said. Legislative activities suffering in senate At the senate, lawmaking, which is the topmost function of legislators, has since taken the back seat from the day the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) gave the go ahead for campaigns late last year.
A total of 68 senators are seeking re-election, hence they have since embarked on vigorous campaigns to retain their seats, as a result of which they now pay less attention to legislative activities.
The first casualty of the senators’ attitude is the 2019 budget estimates that has been before them since December 19, 2018. Having resumed from their Christmas and New Year break on January 16, it was expected that senators would give adequate attention to the budget and pass it for second reading so that it would be referred to the various committees for further action.
However, from January 16 through 24, there was no mention of the budget debate anywhere on the floor of the senate. Instead, the legislators embarked on about a month break to concentrate on their campaigns.
They have so relegated legislative activities that on January 22, they could not meet the required quorum to sit at plenary. On that day, only nine senators were present when plenary was to commence at about 10: 33am.
That was the second time the senators would adjourn their plenary sitting in about three months due to lack of quorum.
On November 13, 2018, the senators were forced to adjourn their plenary due to similar reason of not meeting the required quorum. There are 109 senators and based on their rules, a plenary sitting can only be held when there are at least one-third of them present at the commencement of the session. One-third of the senate is at least 36 senators.
It was observed that the senators present at the commencement of plenary on January 22 include Senate President Bukola Saraki, Chief Whip Sola Adeyeye (APC, Osun), Minority Whip Philip Aduda (PDP, FCT), Deputy Whip Francis Alimekhena (APC, Edo), Deputy Minority Whip Emmanuel Bwacha (PDP, Taraba), Barnabas Gemade (SDP, Benue), Gbenga Ashafa (APC, Lagos), Shaba Lafiagi (PDP, Kwarai) and Andrew Uchendu (APC, Rivers).
Our correspondent observed that after the adjournment on that day, senators such as Baba Kaka Garbai (APC, Borno) and Kabiru Gaya (APC, Kano) arrived for the sitting.
New minimum wage
Another major national issue facing delay at the senate due to the campaigns is the passage of a new national minimum wage as proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The senate had last Thursday raised an 8-member adhoc panel, six of whom are to represent the various geopolitical zones, to work on the proposed new national minimum wage bill forwarded by the president.
The president had proposed N27,000 as the new national minimum wage against the N18,000 that currently obtains.
The panel, headed by Senate Chief Whip Sola Adeyeye (APC, Osun), was given two weeks to conclude its assignment and get back to the Red Chamber.
However, more than one week after, the panel was yet to organize a public hearing on the matter even as presidential and National Assembly elections slated for February 16 draw closer. It was gathered that the committee could not sit to fix a date for the public hearing as six of the eight members of the panel have since intensified their reelection campaigns.
Only the committee chairman, Adeyeye, and another member of the panel, Abu Ibrahim (APC, Katsina), who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Labour, are not recontesting their seats.
Members of the panel that are busy with their re-election campaigns are Shehu Sani (PRP, Kaduna, Northwest), Sam Egwu (PDP, Ebonyi, Southeast), Suleiman Adokwe (PDP, Nasarawa, Northcentral), Francis Alimekhena (APC, Edo, South-south), Solomon Adeola (APC, Lagos, southwest) and Binta Masi Garba (APC, Adamawa, Northeast).
It was learnt that the committee was working towards holding the public hearing next week, which would be a little over one week to the elections.
Already, the House of Representatives through its adhoc panel on the minimum wage, organized its own public hearing on Monday, the report of which was presented on the floor on Tuesday.
The House, on the same day, adopted the report of the panel chaired by Deputy Speaker Yussuf Suleimon Lasun, approving N30,000 as the new national minimum wage against the N27,000 proposed by the president.
In addition, there are bills and requests for confirmation of the heads and members of certain government agencies as well as ambassadorial nominees that are still being delayed by the senate all due to the campaigns.
Same scenario in House of Representatives
It’s a similar scenario at the green chamber as the electioneering campaigns by lawmakers for the incoming polls have taken real, huge tolls, not only on the core legislative business of law-making but also on ancillary aspects of governance in the offices and allied institutions.
Since the lifting of ban on campaigns, attendance at both plenary and committee assignments by the lawmakers has increasingly diminished.
Before the lawmakers officially adjourned plenary for campaigns on 29 January, it was difficult to form quorum for plenary sittings.
In fact, a greater number of such sittings were conducted without the constitutional requirement for a one-third quorum, representing 120 of the 360-member House.
Daily Trust investigations revealed that majority of lawmakers that still keep perfect attendance to plenary and committee assignments had either lost return tickets during primaries or voluntarily decided not to seek re-election.
“The practice of abandoning legislative duties for campaigns poses huge challenge to governance in particular and constitutional democracy in general,” an Abuja-based constitutional lawyer, Professor Agbo Madaki, told Daily Trust.
The development must have also drawn the ire of Speaker Yakubu Dogara who, before adjourning for the campaigns, had called on the lawmakers to strike a balance between their commitment to legislative duties and electioneering campaigns.
“You should endeavour to strike a good balance between your commitment to legislative duties and participation in the campaigns, by streamlining your political timetable and schedules to make room for attendance to legislative duties as much as is expected of you,” the Speaker charged his colleagues days before adjournment.
In the various committees, meetings and public hearings have also been put off to enable the lawmakers concentrate on their campaigns, Daily Trust gathered from a legislative aide.
Since the lawmakers’ offices are usually locked, other ancillary aspects of governance are either running at skeletal pace or are entirely grounded. These include routine services such as issuing of entry pass.
“Even as campaigns are part of governance, it is not advisable to campaign at the expense of legislation and governance,” said Dr. Chris Ezeibe of the Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
When Daily Trust sought the views of the House Spokesman, Abdulrazak Namdas (APC, Adamawa) on the issue, his lines were said to be switched off.
Despite the accelerated passage of the minimum wage bill by the House of Representatives on Tuesday, the lawmakers still face huge responsibility in the legislative processing of the 2019 budget, and other critical bills under consideration.
They have so relegated legislative activities that on January 22, they could not meet the required quorum to sit at plenary. On that day, only nine senators were present when plenary was to commence at about 10: 33am